Douglas Adams wrote: “Space is Big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is.” Some of that distance, though, is about to shrink. Enter NASA’s New Horizons mission. Launched in 2006, it’s been hurdling toward the outer reaches of our solar system at 31,000 miles per hour. The destination? Pluto, its system of five known moons, and beyond. The craft is on track for its closest flyby of Pluto on July 14th; detailed information is expected to arrive beginning the 16th (again, space is big). Using a host of abbreviation-heavy scientific equipment—REX,... Read More

Once upon a time European transplants came to the New World. The results were complicated to say the least. Native populations and cultures didn’t fare well; slave trade was established early. New lives were built on shifting ground. Fast-forward to the British expanding what the French and Dutch began. King George III reaped the benefits of his American colonists, and in kingly fashion found ways to further enrich his coffers. Chief among those tactics was the leveraging of taxes. That led to a certain tantrum: the Boston Tea Party. In time, this dust-up morphed into what we refer to as the... Read More

Boulder is an interesting mix of currents. Consider, for example, the constellation of tech start-ups that find a home here. Think about the many craft breweries and distilleries that have cropped up over the years. Taken together, you get a place equally devoted to innovation and cutting loose, often at the same time. Given CU-Boulder is a dominant fixture, it’s no surprise similar labels apply. The university boasts an array of research associates, experts in various scientific disciplines, as well as artists in every medium, all teaching under its tent. Academically speaking, attending or... Read More

According to some who don’t live here, Boulder is a bastion of agreement. Rumor has it we’re progressively—or insanely—liberal, perpetually supportive of all things fitness, and not only tolerate but court ideas considered fringe elsewhere. In other words, to those outside the bubble, we’re a city of single-minded, almost amoeba-like continuity. Granted, when it comes to particular topics or causes, there is common ground. But don’t let the hype fool you. Below our seemingly homogeneous exterior, there’s roiling disagreement. Lately, this has found a place in “right-sizing,” spearheaded... Read More