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<p>NASA has awarded a team led by the �Ͼ�Ʒ�� more than $7 million to study aspects of the origins, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.</p>

<p><span>A novel dental restorative material that should make life easier for dental care experts and their patients, which is based on technology developed by a team of �Ͼ�Ʒ�� engineers, was unveiled Oct. 1 by the 3M Company.</span></p>

<p>Soil microbes that thrive in the deserts, rainforests, prairies and forests of the world can also be found living beneath New York City Central Park, according to a surprising new study led by Colorado State University and the �Ͼ�Ʒ��.</p>
<p>The research team analyzed 596 soil samples collected from across Central Park 843 acres and discovered a stunning diversity of below-ground life, most of which had never been documented before.</p>

<p>The perception that Colorado Front Range wildfires are becoming increasingly severe does not hold much water scientifically, according to a massive new study led by the �Ͼ�Ʒ�� and Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif.</p>

<p>A new study led by the �Ͼ�Ʒ�� found that different strategies used by states to reduce power plant emissions -- direct ones such as emission caps and indirect ones like encouraging renewable energy -- are both effective. The study is the first analysis of its kind.</p>

<p>A Kurdish delegation will visit the �Ͼ�Ʒ�� campus Sept. 29 and 30 to deliver a public talk on the political situation in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and receive an electronic copy of important documents captured by Kurdish rebels in 1991 but removed from Iraq for safekeeping and analysis.</p>

<p class="p1">The spacecraft for a NASA mission to probe the climate history of Mars led by the �Ͼ�Ʒ�� slid seamlessly into orbit at about 8:24 p.m. MDT on Sunday, Sept. 21, the last major hurdle of the 10-month, 442-million-mile journey.</p>

<p>The gradual fall cooling on Colorado Front Range this September is helping to set up what could well be a prime-time show of gold, yellow and red leaves in the region aspen forests, according to a �Ͼ�Ʒ�� plant ecologist.</p>

<p>Pioneering genomics researcher J. Craig Venter—best known for leading the privately funded team that sequenced the first human genome—will give a keynote talk at the �Ͼ�Ʒ�� on Sept. 29 about the scientific potential of and future products derived from “synthetic life.” </p>

<p>A NASA mission to Mars led by the �Ͼ�Ʒ�� is set to slide into orbit around the red planet Sept. 21 to investigate how its climate has changed over the eons, completing a 10-month interplanetary journey of 442 million miles.</p>
<p>The orbit-insertion maneuver will begin with six thruster engines firing to shed some of the velocity from the spacecraft, known as the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, or MAVEN mission. The thruster engines will ignite and burn for 33 minutes to slow the spacecraft, allowing it to be captured into an elliptical orbit around Mars.</p>