In the news

Angel Abbud-Madrid, professor of practice in Mechanical Engineering and director of the Center for Space Resources at Mines, is interviewed by Tamara Chuang. "Lowering the cost is key," Abbud-Madrid said. "The moment you lower (the cost of) access to space, things are going to start happening. Just like on Earth. It has been so expensive that only a few countries have gone and only about 600 people have gone out to space."

The project "Design and Prototyping of a 9-phase Dual-Rotor Motor for Supersonic Electric Turbofan" will work on a scaled-down prototype for an electric turbofan for supersonic aircraft. The Mines team includes lead Mahzad Gholamian as well as Garret Reader, Mykola Mazur, and Mirali Seyedrezaei, with faculty mentor Omid Beik, assistant professor of Electrical Engineering.

Shifts in the industry have already been driving change in the board rooms of oil and gas companies, said Jennifer Miskimins, department head for Petroleum Engineering at Mines and the incoming President for the Society of Petroleum Engineers. "A lot of the mergers of companies have been because they're buying inventory, so they have places to go outside of what they currently have," Miskimins said.

"By precisely measuring the behavior of lithium atoms produced in the decay of beryllium, we gain direct access to quantum properties of neutrinos, particles that are notoriously difficult to detect," said Kyle Leach, associate professor in Physics. Leach and Joseph Smolsky, a postdoctoral researcher, published their findings in the Feb. 13 issue of Nature.

Morgan Bazilian, director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy at Mines and one of the world's top experts on critical mineral supply chains, explained to members of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources that minerals are foundational to the economy and national security.

Ian Lange, associate professor, economics and business, is interviewed about the impact of tariffs on Canadian oil imported to the U.S. The Trump administration has put a 30-day pause on such tariffs, but Colorado could still see impacts if the administration eventually decides to press play.

Eric Anderson, associate professor, civil and environmental engineering, is quoted in this Newsweek article focusing on a recent satellite image that revealed the aftermath of a brutal cold snap that gripped Chicago between January 19 and 24, leaving Lake Michigan covered with ice. Anderson said improved ice measurements could enhance weather forecasting and provide valuable insights into changes in Earth's surface freshwater systems.

Jeffrey Ackerman, associate teaching professor in mechanical engineering who studies load carrying, is quoted in this BBC piece. "Our bodies are adapted to carrying our own body mass, then when you add a lot of weight, you really need to be doing strength training in a consistent way to grow your bigger load-carrying muscles," Ackerman said.

In this Letter in the journal Science, a number of Payne Institute associates discuss how energy resources on tribal lands should be utilized to the benefit of the tribes that own the land. Payne Institute authors include Richard Luarkie, director, Native American Mining and Energy Sovereignty Initiative (NAMES); Richard Tallman, program manager, NAMES; Brooke Bowser, communications associate; and Morgan Bazilian, Payne director.

Chris Dreyer, director of engineering at Mines' Center for Space Resources, is quoted in this article about Helium-3. The gas is needed to achieve the cold temperatures required by quantum computers. The article discusses mining the moon to obtain additional quantities of the precious and expensive substance.

A first of its kind dilution refrigerator is being built in Mines' Labriola Innovation Hub. When operating, the Big Fridge can achieve a temperature as cold as any place in the known universe.

The first of its kind Big Fridge being built by Maybell Quantum in Mines' Labriola Innovation Hub is designed to house a quantum computer and provide the machine with the extremely cold environment it needs to operate.