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Research at ���Ҵ�ý�ƽ������ encompasses thousands of scholarly, scientific and creative endeavors at any given time, resulting in new knowledge, technologies and creative work that advance the economy, culture and health of Colorado, the nation and the world.

A team led by ���Ҵ�ý�ƽ������ has found the mechanism behind the sudden onset of a “natural thermostat” in Earth’s upper atmosphere that dramatically cools the air after it has been heated by violent solar activity.

Scientists have known that solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – which release electrically charged plasma from the sun – can damage satellites, cause power outages on Earth and disrupt GPS service. CMEs are powerful enough to send billions of tons of solar particles screaming toward Earth at more than 1 million miles per hour, said ���Ҵ�ý�ƽ������ Professor Delores Knipp of the��Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences.

Now, Knipp and her team have determined that when such powerful CMEs come off the sun and speed toward Earth, they create shock waves much like supersonic aircraft create sonic booms. While the shock waves from CMEs pour energy into Earth’s upper atmosphere, puffing it up and heating it, they also cause the formation of the trace chemical nitric oxide, which then rapidly cools and shrinks it, she said.

Does psychological counseling need to be delivered by a psychologist to be effective?

Not necessarily, according to a provocative new line of research involving ���Ҵ�ý�ƽ������ psychology professor Sona Dimidjian that suggests an army of trained “lay counselors” could someday provide a solution to the global mental health treatment gap.

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