Campus News — Spring 2019
Digits: Safecracking at CU
ONE
Safecracking class offered by the ATLAS Institute
4
Safecracking robots designed by 11 students
33
Minutes robots needed to open a safe (avg.)
7,457
Possible combinations robots tried (avg.)
69
Minutes needed to try all possible combinations
271.3
Pounds of steel robots rendered useless
THREE
Motors burned out
Tech Tattoos for Tracking Health
In the future, tattoos may be more than just a way to express yourself.
Scientists in ƷSMӰƬ’s Emergent Nanomaterials Lab are creating “tech tattoos” made up of tiny particles that change color in response to stimuli like heat or sunlight.
The special inks in these tattoos can alert wearers to health risks. One prototype tattoo, for example, only appears in UV light, warning of the potential for sunburn. When sunscreen is applied, the ink disappears. Someday, these tech tattoos could serve many other functions, like revealing blood sugar levels, telling you how much you’ve had to drink and storing heat to keep you warm.
Heard Around Campus
"I believe I will see people on the surface of Mars before I die."
— Allie Anderson, ƷSMӰƬ assistant professor of bioastronautics, during a discussion at a campus screening of National Geographic's TV series Mars.
Congressional Papers (and Tweets)
Former Boulder-area Congressman Jared Polis — now Colorado’s governor — has donated his congressional papers to ƷSMӰƬ for archiving in the University Libraries.
The social media and web portion of Polis’ records are already available in the library system’s special collections unit. They document his use of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram during a 10-year U.S. House of Representatives career that began in 2009. Polis became governor in January.
Additional congressional records — including Polis’ briefings, speeches and constituent correspondence — become available in 2050.
CU also holds the papers of former U.S. Sen. Gary Hart and other Colorado politicians.
For more details, click here.