Get smart fast: Your top research stories from April
Here’s some CU news you can use: Junk food and thru-hiking,how manyColoradans must get a COVID vaccinebefore the state canreturn to “normal,” expert Q&A regarding the Derek Chauvin verdict and more.
To safely return to ‘normal,’ 70% of Coloradans must get COVID vaccine
What we learned:
- At least 70% of Colorado residents will need to get vaccinated against COVID-19 before the state can safely roll back all public health restrictions.
- The study simulates how the coronavirus might spread in Colorado in the months ahead, balancing how people could potentially relax their precautions while keeping others out of the hospital.
- It also finds that if some Colorado counties eliminate restrictions entirely, they could potentially generate a wave of infections around the state.
After Chauvin’s guilty verdict: What will change?
What we learned––three CU Boulder experts’takes on:
- What makes this verdict sohistoric?
- What may have made the outcome of this case different than that of similar ones?
- What could potentially change as a result?
A house run on the sun: How a team of CU students SPARC-ed advances for modern mountain housing
What we learned:
- CU Boulder won first place in the 2021 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Build Challenge, the third time CU has placed first in the highly competitive event.
- The“SPARC” (Sustainability, Performance, Attainability, Resilience and Community) home, located in Fraser, Colorado, demonstrates advances in sustainability and affordability for modern mountain housing in the state.
- The homewas the result of three years’work—through everything from extreme heat and wildfires to construction complications due to COVID-19—and the final product is a stunning achievement.
What’s in a word: New track explores the role of language in social life
What we learned:
- How does linguistics show up in our everyday lives?
- Has the pandemic changed how we communicate?How can we connect better with each other, even with social distancing and masks?
- After all that has happened this past year, why do we keep asking, “How are you?”
Junk food and big miles may not add up how ‘thru-hikers’ hope
What we learned:
- While thru-hikers may look the picture of health, a new studysuggeststhe combination of extreme exercise and poor diet may lead to negative changes in health markers.
- The subjectfueled his hike with a typical thru-hiker diet: ramen noodles, instant mashed potatoes, peanut butter, tortillas, energy bars, jerky and nuts on the trail,and indulged in ice cream, burgers and pizza when in town to resupply.
- It is unknown how persistent the effects are because the researchers did not take further measurements to see if the subject's vascular condition bounced backa month or more after the hike.
- The researchers recommend thru-hikers eat a diethigh in fiber, fruits and vegetables.