CUriosity

CUriosity: Can your running shoes really make you faster?

Yvaine Ye — Wed, 20 May 2026 22:09:53 +0000

CUriosity: Can your running shoes really make you faster? Yvaine Ye Wed, 05/20/2026 - 16:09

In CUriosity, experts across the ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� campus answer questions about humans, our planet and the universe beyond.

In honor of the BOLDERBoulder 10K, we asked integrative physiologist Bradley Needles what makes a “super shoe” super, and whether such footwear can help everyday runners improve their times.

Bradley Needles at the indoor practice facility at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ��. (Credit: Paige Hellebrand/��Ҵ�ý�ƽ��)

On Sunday, April 26, Kenyan Sebastian Sawe broke through the tape at the London Marathon in a stunning 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds, becoming the first person to ever run an official 26.2-mile race in under two hours.

Training, nutrition and mindset all undoubtedly played a role. But much ado has also been made about his shoes—a chunky-looking set of black and white Adidas racing flats, which were quickly whisked away to a museum, his historic time scrolled on the side.

Weighing just 97 grams (less than a bar of soap), the shoes were the latest iteration in a new generation of Advanced Footwear Technology, also known as “super shoes,” that have been helping elite runners crush records for a decade.

But can they also help mere mortals just wanting to shave a few minutes off their 10K?

“Definitely,” says Bradley Needles, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Integrative Physiology who studies performance-running footwear.

A lifelong competitive runner, Needles found his way to ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� after learning that some of the first scientific studies of super shoes were done here.

“The idea that I could do academic research about something I am so passionate about was a real draw,” he said.

In fact, the original super shoe, the Nike Zoom Vaporfly 4%, got its name from a study at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ��. It found that, on average, people who wore the shoe used 4% less energy while running. That could put a sub-two-hour marathon within reach, the authors predicted in 2017.

Today’s super shoes weigh about half what that shoe weighed, and some are said to improve “running economy”—essentially the human body’s version of fuel efficiency—even more.

That could enable a four-hour marathoner to cross the finish line about six and a half minutes faster, or a determined 10K runner to trim off a minute and finally squeeze their way into the coveted “sub-40 club” for those who have run a 10K in less than 40 minutes.

Previously in CUriosity

CUriosity: What are Colorado's iconic birds—and how can you see them?

Read more CUriosity stories

“We have seen it over and over again in our lab,” said Needles. “When runners of all types, whether they are accustomed to them or not, put on these shoes, they use less energy to run.”

And less energy typically equates to faster times.

So what makes the shoes so fast?

There are three key ingredients, said Needles: an ultralight high-energy-returning foam, a thick midsole made up of that foam and a rigid spoon-like plate embedded in the sole.

Just how these all work together to make running feel easier remains a bit of a mystery—one Needles and his advisor, Integrative Physiology Professor Alena Grabowski, are working to unravel.

But previous studies suggest a few things are happening:

The thicker the midsole, the more time your foot spends on the ground, enabling you to push off harder. (Sawe’s midsole was a chunky 39 millimeters thick—just a hair thinner than the maximum allowed.)

The high-tech foam cushion absorbs the bulk of the impact when your foot hits the ground, so the runner’s legs stay stiffer and the calf muscles don’t have to work so hard.

The spoon-like plate, made either of lightweight carbon fiber or rigid plastic, may act like a see-saw, propelling the runner forward with each step.

All this may also serve to make running easier on the body, as some runners have reported they can work out harder and recover more easily after wearing super shoes.

But they are not cheap. A pair of Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3s (the shoes Sawe was wearing) retail for a cool $500 or more, if you can find them; they are sold out.

And they don’t tend to last long—around 100 to 150 miles compared with 300 to 400 miles for regular running shoes. Needles recommends saving them for races and a few runs beforehand to get used to them.

But they’re getting easier for everyday runners to find, with some running as low as $200.

“Pretty much every major shoe company makes a good super shoe now that will be tangibly better, running performance-wise, than your everyday trainer,” said Needles.

He’ll be slipping on his own super shoes—Nike Vaporfly 3s—at the BOLDERBoulder start line in a few days.

As always, he got them on sale.

In honor of the BOLDERBoulder 10K, we asked integrative physiologist Bradley Needles what makes a "super shoe" super, and whether such footwear can help everyday runners improve their times.

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CUriosity: What are Colorado's iconic birds—and how can you see them?

Yvaine Ye — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:07:45 +0000

CUriosity: What are Colorado's iconic birds—and how can you see them? Yvaine Ye Wed, 04/15/2026 - 12:07

Daniel Strain

In CUriosity, experts across the ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� campus answer questions about humans, our planet and the universe beyond.

Scott Taylor, associate professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and director of the Mountain Research Station at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ��, shares some local birds you may never have heard of.

Male greater sage grouse inflates its air sacs while trying to attract mates in spring. (Credit: Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management)

Ah, spring. Time to plant flowers and do a little cleaning.

It’s also time for the greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) to strut its stuff. These birds look a little like fancy chickens, and they live across much of the American West, including in the sagebrush grassland of western Colorado.

Every spring, males engage in a bizarre display to attract females. They flex their wings, suck in as much as a gallon of air, then inflate two sacs the size and color of lemons on their breasts—letting rip a series of whistles, coos and popping noises.

“It’s a combination of vocalizations and the sound their feathers make when they rub them against their bodies,” says Scott Taylor, associate professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

Taylor is an ornithologist and director of the Mountain Research Station at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ��, a high-altitude research facility near the mountain town of Nederland. He’s also the host of the podcast “Okay, … But Birds,” which debuted in December.

“Colorado is an amazing place to watch birds because of all the different habitats we have here, all the way from the high plains to the prairies and up into the alpine,” he says.

To celebrate spring, Taylor is sharing a few of the wildest, strangest and underappreciated birds in the state.

Bird watching

Turkey vulture perches on top of Macky Auditorium on the ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� campus (Casey Cass/��Ҵ�ý�ƽ��)

Brown-capped rosy finch (CC image via Wikimedia Commons)

White-tailed ptarmigan in its winter plumage (CC image via Wikimedia Commons)

Mountain chickadee (Anna Weyers Blades/USFWS)

He begins with what might be Colorado’s ultimate 14er climber, the brown-capped rosy finch (Leucosticte australis).

These small birds are brown with a blush of pink on their undersides. They live almost exclusively in the mountains of Colorado, only venturing into a small corner of New Mexico.

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Why is K-pop so popular in the United States?

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Rosy finches are also the highest nesting birds in North America. They lay their eggs at elevations of up to 14,000 feet above sea level and higher and have evolved for life at these extreme altitudes. They carry a special kind of hemoglobin molecule in their red blood cells. This hemoglobin is especially adept at picking up oxygen and delivering it to tissues. It’s a useful tool when you breathe the thin air on top of a mountain.

Next up is a master of disguise, the white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura). Ptarmigans, another chicken-like bird, can usually be found running around the mountain tundra. To blend in with their surroundings, they turn brown in the summer and stark white in the winter.

“The chicks also have a pattern that looks like lichen, so it’s really good camouflage to protect themselves from predators,” Taylor says.

Experienced birders may overlook black-capped (Poecile atricapillus) and mountain (Poecile gambeli) chickadees, two species that are common visitors to bird feeders around much of the American West. But these birds can achieve feats of memory that are almost unparalleled in the animal world, Taylor says.

Every year, chickadees collect tens of thousands of seeds and store away each of them in a unique hiding place. They remember their hiding spots when winter arrives.

“With a brain that’s just a little bit bigger than a chickpea, they can remember way more than I can,” he says.

Taylor adds that not all bird species are flourishing in Colorado. Rosy finch and sage grouse populations are declining across the state because of human threats like warming temperatures, habitat loss, and oil and gas extraction.

But there’s a lot that people can do to help birds around Colorado. Taylor recommends planting native plants in your yard and keeping domestic cats indoors where they can’t hunt birds.

There’s also no better time to get into birding. Apps like Merlin Bird ID, which was developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, can help novices identify the birds they see. Local birding groups around the state also lead trips that beginners can join.

You don’t have to go farther than the ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� campus to enjoy feathered friends, either. Several pairs of red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) nest on campus. Taylor even spotted one of them scooping up a rabbit from Norlin Quad last year. Violet-green swallows (Tachycineta thalassina) just returned to Boulder last week and will soon be building their nests under the red tiles on many campus buildings.

“One of the reasons birds fascinate us is that they're everywhere,” Taylor says. “On a daily basis, you don’t see that many other forms of wildlife. But birds are around us all the time.”

To celebrate spring, ornithologist Scott Taylor shares some Colorado birds you may never have heard of.

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CUriosity: Why is K-pop so popular in the United States?

Yvaine Ye — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 19:21:39 +0000

CUriosity: Why is K-pop so popular in the United States? Yvaine Ye Tue, 03/10/2026 - 13:21

Yvaine Ye

In CUriosity, experts across the ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� campus answer questions about humans, our planet and the universe beyond.

Stephanie Choi, assistant professor of ethnomusicology at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� and a K-pop fan, talks about why this music genre has gained widespread popularity beyond South Korea.

Editor's note: “Golden” from "KPop Demon Hunters" has become the first K-pop song to win the Oscar for Best Original Song at the 2026 Academy Awards.

Girl group Huntr/x in Kpop Demon Hunters. (Credit: Netflix)

Since last summer, few songs have been as inescapable as “Golden.”

In the Netflix blockbuster film “KPop Demon Hunters,” animated girls in stylish outfits, who slay monsters, belt out the anthem, “We’re goin’ up, up, up, it’s our moment / You know together we’re glowing,” a chorus that countless American children (and plenty of adults) can now sing on cue.

South Korean popular music, or K-pop, is having a moment in the United States, and 2026 could be its biggest year yet.

“Golden” recently became the first K-pop song to win a Grammy Award. It is also nominated for Best Original Song at the upcoming Academy Awards on March 15. Two of the genre’s biggest acts, BLACKPINK and BTS, are releasing new albums this year, while groups I-DLE and Twice are touring across North America.

Stephaine Choi saw the K-pop wave coming for years. An assistant professor in the College of Music who studies K-pop’s global influence, Choi is also a fan of the genre.

On top of a pastel-pink cabinet in Choi’s office sits a small shrine to her fandom: photos of EXO, a South Korean boy band she has followed for more than a decade, stuffed animals representing members of SHINee, another favorite, and souvenirs from K-pop concerts she’s been to.

Her most prized piece is a lipstick shaped like SHINee’s lightstick, an aqua-colored glow stick that resembles a diamond perched on a microphone.

“There are lots of social functions in music,” Choi said. “It could be for entertainment. It could be for ritual. It could also be for community building. K-pop culture makes you want to be part of the community.”

Despite its name, K-pop isn’t defined by a single musical style. Instead, Choi describes it as performance-centered music presented by idols. These artists are trained by entertainment companies, often starting in their early teens.

In the United States, K-pop first gained traction among Korean Americans before spreading through other Asian American communities in the early 2000s. In 2012, Psy galloped his way into the American mainstream with his viral hit “Gangnam Style.” The music video was the most viewed video on YouTube for five years.

The real turning point came in 2017 when the boy band BTS won the Billboard Music Award for Top Social Artist, a fan-voted category.

Unlike traditional celebrity culture where the musicians are often viewed as gifted, Choi said the relationship between idols and fans feels more equal in K-pop culture.

Previously in CUriosity

Why does Colorado have so many hot springs, and are they at risk?

Or read more CUriosity stories here

Through livestreams, social media and subscription messaging platforms, fans can communicate with idols directly on a daily basis.

Because most idols debut as teenagers, fans often watch them grow, mature and eventually become full-fledged artists launching their own solo careers. Fans ride every high and low with the artists, and growing alongside them is what makes K-pop so irresistible.

“It feels like you’re building a history together,” Choi said.

This connection motivates fans to organize campaigns, translate music videos and promote their favorite artists. According to a 2024 survey by the South Korean government, more than 200 million people across 119 countries identify as fans of Korean culture, with the majority focused on K-pop.

By 2022, BTS had taken home 12 Billboard Music Awars, breaking a 17-year record previously held by Destiny’s Child. BLACKPINK headlined the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2023. Another girl group called Twice is currently on a world tour with a Denver stop in April.

The popularity of Korean music also encouraged people in the United States to take up language lessons. Duolingo, a language learning app, saw a 22% growth in Korean learners in the United States last year.

“You can definitely enjoy music without understanding the language,” Choi said. “But K-pop opens up a whole new world for people to learn about other cultures.”

Stephanie Choi, assistant professor of ethnomusicology at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� and a K-pop fan, talks about why this music genre has gained widespread popularity beyond South Korea.

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CUriosity: Why does Colorado have so many hot springs, and are they at risk?

Daniel William Strain — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 22:57:54 +0000

CUriosity: Why does Colorado have so many hot springs, and are they at risk? Daniel William… Wed, 03/04/2026 - 15:57

Daniel Strain

In CUriosity, experts across the ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� campus answer questions about humans, our planet and the universe beyond.

Shemin Ge, professor in the Department of Geological Sciences, shares how a source of clean energy known as geothermal power could pose unexpected risks to Colorado's iconic hot springs.

Visitors enjoy a winter dip in Strawberry Park Hot Springs in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. (Credit: Adobe Stock)

Shemin Ge remembers a winter drive she took around Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Ice had formed over the trees, and a blanket of snow lay over the landscape.

Then Ge saw something surprising in the middle of all that white.

“[There was] snow everywhere, all the way to the rim of the hot springs. There you have steamy things coming out,” said Ge, professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ��. “What a beautiful, nice thing to see.”

Ge is a hydrogeologist, a scientist who studies the interactions between water and rock around the planet. In Colorado, she has plenty to explore.

The Colorado Geological Survey reports that the state is home to at least 93 “thermal areas”—places where hot water from underground bubbles up to the surface, forming pools and streams.

Hot springs play an important role in the cultures of many of the West’s Native American groups. They’re also a big draw for locals and tourists alike who enjoy long, leisurely dips with a mountain view.

Why are these relaxing features so common in Colorado?

Like so many things in the West, the answer comes down to the Rocky Mountains. Tens of millions of years ago, collisions between the planet’s tectonic plates caused the ground under the American West to buckle, building the mountains we know today.

That same uplift created a network of cracks and channels in the hard, rocky crust below the region—perfect pathways for toasty water to flow to the surface.

“Earth’s crust is thinner [in the West] compared to the eastern part of the country,” Ge said. “When the crust is thinner, it’s easier for the deep, hot mantle to come up closer to the surface.”

Ge’s own research has explored a modern human activity that could influence these ancient features.

In recent years, energy companies and other entities have begun investigating a potentially abundant source of sustainable power: geothermal energy.

Previously in CUriosity

How can you make your resolutions stick?

Or read more CUriosity stories here

Geothermal energy can come in many forms, but, in general, people dig deep wells to pump up hot water from underground. Once at the surface, that water can be used to heat floors or sidewalks, or even power turbines and generate electricity.

But when people pump hot water up, they usually replace that liquid with cooler water from the surface. This could, in theory, cool some hot springs down.

In a 2025 paper, Roseanna Neupauer, a professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ��, and Ge explored this idea. The team used computer simulations, or models, to recreate the geological conditions under Colorado’s surface. In particular, the group tested what might happen if people installed a well near Mount Princeton, a hub of geothermal activity near Buena Vista, Colorado.

The possible impacts of that hypothetical well depended on how close it came to hot springs. If the well sat about 650 feet east of a spring, it might lead to cooling, and temperatures could dip by as much as 27 degrees Fahrenheit over the long run.

Ge said that scientists still have a lot of research to do before they can say for sure whether geothermal energy poses risks to Colorado’s hot springs.

But, she added, it’s important to ask the question. Nothing makes a frigid winter day better than a long, relaxing dip in one of Colorado’s many hot springs.

“Geothermal energy is a sustainable, renewable source of energy, and I would love to see it used more,” Ge said. “But we don’t want to cause a negative impact for the people who live nearby.”

Geologist Shemin Ge shares how a source of clean energy known as geothermal power could pose unexpected risks to Colorado's iconic hot springs.

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CUriosity: How can you make your resolutions stick?

Daniel William Strain — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 22:44:18 +0000

CUriosity: How can you make your resolutions stick? Daniel William… Mon, 01/05/2026 - 15:44

Katy Marquardt Hill

In CUriosity, experts across the ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� campus answer questions about humans, our planet and the universe beyond.

This week, Alix Barasch, a marketing professor in the Leeds School of Business, says that virtual badges and digital trinkets may sound silly, but they really can help you reach your goals. She answers the question: "How do I keep my New Year’s resolution?"

New Year's Eve in New York's Times Square. (Credit: CC photo via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/76807015@N03/11745399044)

Millions of people open apps each day to protect something with no monetary value but plenty of psychological punch: a streak. Whether it’s logging language lessons, tracking meals, meditating or hitting step goals, missing a day can feel oddly devastating.

There’s a reason it feels that way. Streaks turn progress into a reward of its own, according to Alix Barasch, associate professor of marketing at the Leeds School of Business, who studies how technologies influence consumer behavior.

Alix Barasch

“A streak has no real value in the world, but it has real psychological value,” she says.

That mental pull may be why streaks (and the apps that track them) help make resolutions stick. Even when apps offer seemingly trivial rewards, they can still influence behavior.

“These apps add an extra layer to goals,” Barasch says. “Tracking streaks and earning badges along the way turns something you might already want to do—like practicing a language or exercising—into something you really care about, even if the reward is just a number or a virtual icon.”

This is gamification, the process of turning ordinary tasks into a kind of game. Apps use badges, streak counts, progress trackers and virtual currencies to make those tasks feel like achievements. For example, the meditation app Calm awards badges for streaks of consecutive days of practice and completing specific programs, such as those for stress and anxiety. For people with fitness goals, the Apple Watch encourages users with three colorful rings that users aim to close each day: “move” (calories burned), “exercise” (activity minutes), and “stand” (moving around for at least 1 minute during 12 hours of the day).

“Tracking your progress, earning badges, keeping a streak—these things all give the behavior a sense of meaning,” Barasch says.

But apps also dutifully notice if you skip a day’s workout. That can feel bigger than a small slip and really knock your motivation.

Previously in CUriosity

Why hasn't it snowed much this year, and what does that mean for Colorado?

Or read more CUriosity stories here

“Psychologically, it’s extra demotivating,” Barasch says. “Breaking a streak affects your likelihood of keeping up the behavior.”

Apps have gotten good at forgiving streak breaks, which can help users overcome slip-ups.

The language app Duolingo, for example, offers “streak repairs” via subscription features or “gems” that can be earned or bought. Users can also preemptively protect their streaks with “freezes.”

Not surprisingly, sharing streaks with friends or tracking them within a group can make people more likely to stick with a resolution.

“For me, there does have to be a layer of accountability,” Barasch says. “You don’t necessarily need shared tracking, but social connection helps.”

Over time, streaks reinforce behavior simply by making it part of your routine. Showing up day after day helps solidify those actions into habits that can last even without the digital nudges. To make a resolution stick, she recommends leaning on simple forms of gamification like earning badges to reinforce the behavior long enough for it to become a habit.

And that’s the real goal.

“If it becomes part of your day,” Barasch says, “you’ll probably keep doing it—even without the rewards.”

Virtual badges and digital trinkets may sound silly, but they really can help you reach your goals, says marketing researcher Alix Barasch.

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CUriosity: Why hasn't it snowed much this year, and what does that mean for Colorado?

Daniel William Strain — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 22:59:54 +0000

CUriosity: Why hasn't it snowed much this year, and what does that mean for Colorado? Daniel William… Thu, 12/18/2025 - 15:59

Daniel Strain

In CUriosity, experts across the ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� campus answer questions about humans, our planet and the universe beyond.

Jennifer Kay, professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences and fellow at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ��, talks about why this winter has been so dry.

Jennifer Kay has a message for the skies above Colorado: “Let it snow.”

Kay is an atmospheric scientist who, in her free time, likes to go cross-country skiing in the Rocky Mountains.

But this year, the season’s typical white-out blizzards haven’t arrived.

Denver didn’t get its first snow—a wimpy dusting of just 0.2 inches—until Nov. 29, the second latest first snow on record. Temperatures around the Front Range have also been downright balmy, drawing close to or even setting record highs.

Could the late start to the winter be a bad omen for Colorado’s ski industry and its future water supplies?

Kay weighs in on the question from ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� East Campus with a view of the Flatiron Mountains behind her. They’re almost completely dry, with almost none of the sprinkling of white that usually marks them this time of year.

She says it’s not time to panic—yet.

“It's also really early in the season still, so people shouldn’t be too worried about what’s going to happen with the ski season or water,” says Kay, a fellow at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ��. “There are still a lot of different ways this season could unfold.”

In 2021, for example, Denver didn’t see its first snow until Dec. 10 (the latest on record). But snowfall totals inched closer to normal in the months that followed.

Kays says it’s not possible to predict how much snow will come to Colorado in an individual winter season months ahead of time.

A lot of that stems from a phenomenon known as the jet stream. That’s the name for a narrow band in the atmosphere above North America where winds reach tremendous speeds, sometimes over 250 miles per hour. When this band hovers above Colorado, it tends to bring big, rumbling storms to the state.

“When the jet stream brings storms to us, we get...a lot of wet, snowy days,” Kay said. “If the jet stream goes another direction, maybe to the north or south of us, we don’t get as many snowstorms.”

Previously in CUriosity

Why do so many people watch football on Thanksgiving?

Or read more CUriosity stories here

But, she adds, any number of complex factors can make the jet stream wiggle from month to month—although meteorologists can often predict what the jet stream will do several days in advance.

Recently, the jet stream has stuck mostly to the north of Colorado, crossing over states like Montana and the Dakotas.

This year’s less-than-snowy winter has Kay thinking about what the future may hold.

With warming, she says, many storms that might normally produce snow may instead bring rain. That could have a wide range of consequences for the state.

A thick blanket of snow on the ground, for example, can keep wildfires from starting and spreading. The Marshall Fire, which devastated parts of Boulder County in December 2021, erupted at a time when the ground was relatively dry, and winds were especially fierce.

Kay believes it’s important for Coloradans to prepare themselves for hotter and dryer weather.

She lives in Boulder and keeps a go-bag packed at all times, even during the winter months. It includes a change of clothes, important documents, chargers for electronic devices and contact information for her neighbors.

“I have already adapted to the reality of more fires as we get hotter and drier in Colorado,” she says. “Understanding what's happening around you and having a plan for extreme events like the strong wind events we have along the Front Range is important.”

This year, the normal blizzards haven't come to most of Colorado, but atmospheric scientist Jennifer Kay says there's still time for the season to turn around.

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CUriosity: Why do so many people watch football on Thanksgiving?

Daniel William Strain — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 14:54:26 +0000

CUriosity: Why do so many people watch football on Thanksgiving? Daniel William… Wed, 11/19/2025 - 07:54

Lisa Marshall

In CUriosity, experts across the ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� campus answer questions about humans, our planet and the universe beyond.

This week, Jared Bahir Browsh, assistant teaching professor and director of the Critical Sports Studies Program at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ��, explains the historical and social roots behind the Thanksgiving football tradition.

Think of Thanksgivings past, and you might conjure memories of family gathered around the table, the Macy’s parade playing in the background, and the smell of turkey and pumpkin pie.

Jared Bahir Browsh remembers the games.

There was the notorious 2012 “butt fumble” when New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez collided head first with the rear end of his teammate and dropped the ball, allowing the New England Patriots to run it in for the touchdown. And the time in 1999 when Dallas Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders (a.k.a. Coach Prime now) caught two interceptions to help defeat the Miami Dolphins.

One year, Browsh, who spends the holidays in his hometown of Philadelphia, skipped the turkey altogether when his uncle got the family last-minute tickets to an Eagles game.

“We all kind of looked at each other and said, ‘We don’t care about the dinner. Let’s go,’” recalls Browsh, clad head-to-toe in green-and white Eagles gear as he stands in Folsom Field for an interview. “In our family, Thanksgiving and football are synonymous.”

They’re not alone. According to the NFL, a record 141 million people watched Thanksgiving football on TV in 2024, making it the highest Thanksgiving Day viewership on record.

That doesn’t surprise Browsh, a teaching professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies who studies the social and economic impact of sports. He views Thanksgiving football as not only a rich tradition dating back 150 years but also as a potent cultural touch point that can unite people, even in the most divided times.

“Family dynamics can create tension on Thanksgiving sometimes, but football provides this shared cultural experience that crosses age, gender, religion and political affiliation,” he says. “We don’t have many of those experiences anymore.”

As Browsh notes, Thanksgiving itself was established to promote unity, and football came along around the same time.

President Abraham Lincoln founded the federal holiday in 1863 to promote peace between Northerners and Southerners during the bloody Civil War.

Six years later, on Nov. 6, 1869, Princeton and Rutgers faced off for the first official American football game. Just 11 days later in Philadelphia, the Young America Cricket Club and Germantown Cricket Club played the first Thanksgiving football game on record.

Previously in CUriosity

What can horror films teach us about society?

Or read more CUriosity stories here

In the years before the 1920 establishment of the NFL, high school, club, and college teams routinely closed out their seasons on Thanksgiving Day, with communities packing into the stands to display their shared pride.

Thanksgiving football first hit the national airwaves in 1934 when listeners huddled around the radio to hear a new NFL franchise, the Detroit Lions, face off against the Chicago Bears.
In 1953, the Lions made history again—hosting the first nationally televised Thanksgiving game.

“People said football would never work on TV, because the lighting was uncertain and it was more of an in-person experience,” says Browsh.

Since 1966, the Dallas Cowboys have hosted a nationally televised Thanksgiving game every year but two, a tradition that Browsh says has helped the team clinch its reputation as “America’s Team.”

The Lions have also hosted a game every Thanksgiving, although some critics called for that privilege to be revoked during the team’s disastrous 0-16 2008 season. The NFL sided with tradition, the game went on, and the Lions lost 47-10.

Today, in addition to the Cowboys and Lions games, other teams vie for a coveted third game in the evening.

Tens of millions look on as they dish up seconds. And in the days to follow, they bask in the victory or lament the loss of their team in grocery store lines, office break rooms and group chats.

“In this oversaturated media environment, we have fewer and fewer shared movies or other forms of media to bring us together,” says Browsh. “But we still have football.”

Politics and other touchy topics can divide families on Thanksgiving, but football often unites people from across society, says Jared Bahir Browsh.

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CUriosity: What can horror films teach us about society?

Daniel William Strain — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 21:39:13 +0000

CUriosity: What can horror films teach us about society? Daniel William… Thu, 10/30/2025 - 15:39

Daniel Strain

In CUriosity, experts across the ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� campus answer pressing questions about humans, our planet and the universe beyond.

This week, in honor of Halloween, sociologist Laura Patterson takes a stab at: “What can horror films teach us about society?”

The 2025 Norwegian film "The Ugly Stepsister" examines beauty standards facing young women, with grisly results. (Credit: Marcel Zyskind/IFC Films/Shudder)

Laura Patterson loves a good scare—turning the lights down, popping on a horror film, and watching the blood splash across the screen.

But the scholar, an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Sociology at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ��, believes that horror movies can do more than just creep you out. The genre also reveals a lot about the world we live in.

“I like horror movies, on the one hand, just because they're fun, and I think being scared is really fun,” she says. “Horror films also let us discuss some of the hardest things that we go through as people.”

Laura Patterson

Patterson may be one of the university’s biggest horror buffs.

She teaches a class for undergrads called “Gender, Race, and Chainsaws” and co-hosts the horror movie podcast “Collective Nightmares.” She’s also tried her hand at making her own short horror film. “Silent Generation” tackles the terrors of growing old and will appear later this month at the Denver Film Festival.

“They act as a mirror and can reflect back to us the societal biases and stereotypes that we have,” Patterson says. “We can look at, for example, who is a victim and who's a villain, who gets to live and who deserves to die, who can save themselves and who can't.”

Speaking of stereotypes, the horror genre has had a long and complicated relationship with women.

In the early days of scary movies, women were usually portrayed as victims. They screamed. They fainted. They got rescued by men.

Slasher flicks of the 1970s and 1980s, however, gave rise to the “final girl.” That’s the name for female characters (almost always innocent and chaste) who find their inner strength and stop the killer. They include Laurie Stode in the “Halloween” franchise, Nancy Thompson in “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and Sidney Prescott in the “Scream” films.

But that trope still has issues.

“You have certain women who are picked and chosen as special and deserving protection, and it doesn’t matter what happens to every other woman,” Patterson says.

More recently, a new generation of women writers and directors has emerged in Hollywood.

They include Mimi Cave, director of the 2022 film “Fresh.” It follows a young woman who goes on a weekend trip with a man she just started dating—with predictably gory results.

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“It helps now that we have more women writing and directing horror films because we get to see the stories being told from their perspective,” Patterson says.

She adds that horror fans can still enjoy movies even if they don’t agree with their messages. Patterson sometimes has more fun watching movies she doesn’t see eye to eye with. They include this year’s “Weapons.” At its start, the film hinted at tackling big questions around school shootings, Patterson says, but never wound up delivering much of a point.

She urges her students to think critically about the films they see, and to be aware of the lessons the filmmakers are passing on, whether they mean to or not.

When it comes to 2025, Patterson says it’s been a great year for horror.

She recommends “Sinners,” a film about the blues, vampires and much more in Jim Crow Mississippi. Also on her list is a gruesome take on the Cinderella fairy tale called “The Ugly Stepsister.” This slept-on Norwegian film follows the titular ugly stepsister as she goes to increasingly twisted lengths to make herself more beautiful. It’s not for the faint of heart.

What about the squeamish out there, those who watch scary movies with their fingers over their eyes?

If they consider the underlying themes in horror films it can sometimes make them a little less frightening—at least in the usual sense, says Patterson.

“I’ve had several students come up to me and say, ‘I used to think that the guy chasing somebody with a knife was super scary. But now I realize that the patriarchy—that’s what’s really scary.’”

Horror movies offer messages about the world we live in, even if the filmmakers never intended to comment on society. Sociologist Laura Patterson wants her students to be aware of what films are telling them.

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CUriosity: The aspens are changing color in Colorado. Why do they do it?

Yvaine Ye — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 21:06:20 +0000

CUriosity: The aspens are changing color in Colorado. Why do they do it? Yvaine Ye Wed, 09/17/2025 - 15:06

Yvaine Ye

In CUriosity, experts across the ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� campus answer pressing questions about humans, our planet and the universe beyond.

This week, plant biologist Barbara Demmig-Adams answers: “Why do leaves change color in the fall?”

Autumn paints Colorado’s mountains in light and color.

Barbara Demoing-Adams

Bands of yellow and orange aspen trees ripple across the slopes, flickering against the dark green of conifer forests. The display is dazzling, but leaves don’t change color just for decoration. The transformation is the result of a chemical process inside each leaf that helps trees prepare for the coming winter, says plant biologist Barbara Demmig-Adams.

“Trees have developed different strategies so they can survive with limited resources and avoid competing with each other,” says Demmig-Adams, professor of distinction in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. “That’s why we see some leaves turn yellow, some turn red and some stay green.”

Changing leaf color is a unique trait of deciduous trees, a group that includes aspens, maples and oaks. These species have broad leaves that they shed in the fall. Evergreen trees, like pines and firs, stay green through the seasons.

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During spring and summer, when sunlight is abundant, deciduous trees produce chlorophyll, a green pigment that captures light and turns it into food through photosynthesis.

As temperatures drop and days shorten in the fall, deciduous trees stop producing chlorophyll and begin pulling nutrients, especially nitrogen, back into their trunks and roots before shedding the leaves.

Without chlorophyll, the yellow and orange pigments that have been present in the leaves all along shine through.

“The yellow pigment is mainly composed of carbon, which is abundant in the environment and in the plants, so trees are fine with letting it fall away,” Demmig-Adams says.

Red leaves tell a different story. Unlike the yellow pigment, trees make the red pigments, called anthocyanins, freshly in the fall.

When trees experience a succession of warm, sunny Autumn days, their leaves produce lots of sugar. If the nights become significantly cooler, the veins that carry fluids into and out of the leaves close off, trapping sugar inside. That sugar then binds with other chemical molecules to form anthocyanins.

This year, fall foliage started to emerge in the Front Range in late August, weeks earlier than the typical mid-September timing. This is mainly because of the drought conditions Colorado is experiencing, which triggered the color-changing process early as trees try to conserve nutrients.

“Trees are very smart. They’re always keeping track of all of the changes in the environment and respond promptly,” Demmig-Adams says.

Colorado's golden autumn colors are emerging as trees prepare for winter. This process is driven by quiet chemical changes inside each leaf.

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CUriosity: In the wake of Texas floods, how do emergency alerts work, and where do they fall short?

Daniel William Strain — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 16:37:06 +0000

CUriosity: In the wake of Texas floods, how do emergency alerts work, and where do they fall short? Daniel William… Tue, 07/22/2025 - 10:37

Daniel Strain

In CUriosity, experts across the ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� campus answer pressing questions about humans, our planet and the universe beyond.

This week, Carson MacPherson-Krutsky, a research associate at the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder, answers: “How do emergency alerts work, and where do they fall short?”

In the early hours of July 4, flash floods rose through parts of Texas’ Kerr County and surrounding regions, killing more than 130 people, including 27 children and counselors at a local summer camp.

In the wake of the disaster, numerous media reports raised questions about whether residents had enough warning to make it to safety.

Carson MacPherson-Krutsky knows how important timely emergency alerts are for people in the path of natural hazards like floods, wildfires, tornadoes and more. She’s a research associate in the Natural Hazards Center at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� and has investigated emergency alert systems in Colorado. Simply put, she said: They’re all over the place.

Carson MacPherson-Krutsky

“The biggest takeaway is that it’s complicated,” said MacPherson-Krutsky, a geologist and social scientist by training who studies how to communicate risk and help people prepare for natural disasters. “There are multiple systems at work, and they vary from municipality to municipality.”

In a report published in 2024, MacPherson-Krutsky and her colleagues surveyed 222 officials from 57 of Colorado’s 64 counties about their emergency alert systems. The research was funded through a bill passed by the state legislature.

One of the most basic kinds of disaster warnings, she said, are wireless emergency alerts (WEAs). These text messages go directly to the phones of people located in a particular geographic area. Amber Alerts for abducted children use the same system. (You may be familiar with the blaring beeps and vibrations that accompany these messages).

A wide range of government groups, both local and national, can send out WEAs in the event of natural disasters or acts of violence. Personnel need to take a training, and they work through a system administered by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its partners.

Before dawn on July 4, for example, the National Weather Service (NWS), which is part of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), sent out several such text alerts. According to The Texas Tribune, one alert at 4:03 a.m. local time urged recipients to “SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW!”

Beyond WEAs, alerts get more complicated.

In Colorado, for example, every county tends to have its own alert system, which can be managed by a wide range of groups—from sheriff’s offices to fire departments and 911 call centers. They may send out warnings over text messages, social media, TV and radio, word of mouth or even sirens. In many cases, residents have to sign up or download an app to receive messages.

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“Depending on who's sending the alert, they have different procedures and protocols in place for what triggers an alert, who sends it, what approvals are needed and so on,” MacPherson-Krutsky said.

Those disparities become especially glaring for people with disabilities or who speak languages other than English, MacPherson-Krutsky added. Currently, the WEA technology can only support messages in English and Spanish. The federal government has made moves to expand the languages available, but she noted that a recent executive order from the Trump administration could make those changes harder to enact. In Colorado, more than one-third of the emergency personnel the researchers surveyed didn’t know if their emergency alert systems had the ability to translate to other languages or alert people who are deaf.

“That creates a lot of inequity,” she said. “A deaf person living in one county might receive an alert, but their brother who lives across the border wouldn’t.”

In their report, MacPherson-Krutsky and her colleagues recommended that Colorado adopt a single, state-wide system for sending out emergency alerts. Connecticut, Florida and Oregon have such a system, which counties or other localities can use at no cost to them.

She added that federal and state funding is critical for sending timely alerts in the event of natural disasters. The White House’s proposed budget for 2026 includes a more than 25% cut in funding for NOAA.

“Natural hazards researchers are worried about what these cuts would do to public safety,” MacPherson-Krutsky said. “Our colleagues at NOAA and the National Weather Service are doing such amazing work to make these warnings better. And if some of them aren’t there to advance this research, we’ll all bear the consequences of that.”

When natural disasters strike, people across the United States often depend on timely warnings to get to safety. But in Colorado and many parts of the country, these alerts are a patchwork that vary from county to county.

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