What are Ukraine's critical minerals actually worth? No one knows.

Rod Eggert, deputy director of the Critical Materials Innovation Hub at Mines, is quoted in this article examining Ukraine's critical minerals. “Ukraine has significant mineral potential, but how large that potential is, we simply don’t know,” said Eggert,
February 28, 2025

Trump’s chaotic agenda has a critical through line

Morgan Bazilian, director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy at Mines, is quoted. This “is one of the only areas of sort of rough bipartisan agreement—that is that these minerals and metals are crucial for energy, but also national security and consumer goods and the overall economy,” said Bazilian. “They feature heavily in the economic war between China and the United States.”
February 26, 2025

The quest for water heads to the moon, via spacecraft built in Colorado

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.”
February 23, 2025

NASA selects Mines team during new round of student-led aviation research awards

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.
February 19, 2025

Trump’s oil ambitions face harsh economic and geologic realities

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.
February 18, 2025

Neutrinos' quantum size likely thousands of times larger than atomic nuclei

“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.
February 17, 2025

Now ore never: Critical case for US mining

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 the ....
February 10, 2025

The US-Canada trade war is on pause, but if that changes, what could it mean for Colorado?

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.
February 4, 2025

NASA image captures ice pile up on Lake Michigan

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.
January 29, 2025

Springy poles and forehead straps: How to carry more than your own bodyweight

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.
January 27, 2025