Science & Technology

Wind tunnel research could help predict how wildfires spread

Amber Carlson — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 16:02:24 +0000

Wind tunnel research could help predict how wildfires spread Amber Carlson Fri, 12/05/2025 - 09:02

Amber Carlson , Nicholas Goda

In a windowless, warehouse-sized lab on campus, a team of CU Boulder researchers huddle around two wind tunnels—long metal tubes that blow air currents at controlled speeds.

Laura Shannon, a graduate student in CU’s Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering, turns a dial, releasing a hiss of gas that quickly ignites a burner inside one tunnel.

The crew turns out the overhead lights. The fire, glowing blue and yellow through a window in the tube, is the only light to be found. Shannon turns on the air current, speeding it up and slowing it down, and the flames flicker and sway wildly.

The researchers are using the wind tunnels to study wildfire behavior. For nearly a decade, the team has been delving into the hundreds of factors that can affect the way wildfire starts, moves and spreads, as well as the damage it causes.

Ultimately, the team has an ambitious goal: to build computational tools that can predict how wildfire will behave. They envision a day when, shortly after a fire starts, firefighters can plug in details about it and learn where—and how quickly—it could spread. The tools could help keep communities safer in a world where climate-driven wildfire is becoming more common—and more dangerous.

“Being able to have more accurate, better predictors of fires is extremely important to protecting people, lives and property,” said Shannon. “The more accurate we can make our simulations in the long run, the safer we can keep wildfires.”

The research team also brings a unique, interdisciplinary approach to studying wildfire, blending ideas and technology from mechanical and aerospace engineering.

“This research was driven by recognizing that there was a gap. There were these really advanced aerodynamics and sensing tools that had not been used in this field yet,” said Greg Rieker, a research team member and professor in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Teasing apart the elements of wildfire

Wildfire behavior is complex and hard to predict because there are so many variables—like wind, rain, humidity, fuel and topography—to consider. The researchers have been methodically isolating and studying these variables to understand more about how fire behaves under different conditions.

The team is using wind tunnels to better understand basics like how fire moves, its shape and structure, and how it transfers heat downstream. They’re also looking at the impact of ground slope on fire spread, using a tunnel that can tilt at an angle.

“The idea is to model the influence of ground slope to think about wildfires climbing hills versus descending. You have different physics and different dynamics,” said John Farnsworth, a team member and associate professor in CU’s Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences.

The team is also exploring how embers form and spread. Wind can carry these burning pieces of wood or debris miles away from a fire, sparking additional blazes. Embers were likely a major driver of the December 2021 Marshall Fire and the October 2020 East Troublesome Fire, which spread from Grand Lake to Estes Park overnight due to blowing embers.

A large smoke plume from the 2020 East Troublesome Fire in Grand and Larimer counties. Wind helped push the fire across the Continental Divide from Grand Lake to Estes Park, prompting massive evacuations. (Source: BLM)

In a study that has not yet been published, former mechanical engineering graduate student Charlie Callahan set one-millimeter wooden discs on fire to create embers, then dropped them into a wind tunnel and took a high-speed thermal video of the embers moving through the tunnel.

“Larger firebrands can travel long distances and start a fire a mile away, which causes fire spread. But also, small firebrands can change the rate of fire spreading over short distances,” Callahan said. “There hadn't been too many studies on looking at this specific size of firebrand.”

The study found that the embers, or firebrands, fluctuated rapidly in temperature—by hundreds of degrees—as they traveled through the tunnel. And the fluctuations happened more frequently in embers that were traveling at faster speeds compared to the wind speed. The faster they moved, the hotter they got.

Callahan and the other researchers plan to continue studying firebrands to understand more about the significance of these temperature changes and how they affect fire spread.

Looking forward

The researchers say it’s still extremely difficult for firefighters to predict how fires behave and spread, especially in areas with variable terrain and wind conditions. Fires such as the Marshall Fire and the East Troublesome Fire can spread more quickly and erratically than expected.

Scientists believe wildfire will likely become an even more significant threat as climate change progresses, temperatures rise and drought conditions persist in many areas. When fires happen, it’s crucial to be able to understand and predict how they’ll behave.

The work is particularly urgent for communities in the wildland-urban interface that border on wilderness and are more vulnerable to wildfire. The researchers hope their predictive tools might help improve evacuation plans and enhance firefighting approaches.

Peter Hamlington, a professor in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering and the principal investigator behind this research, noted the impacts of wildfire extend beyond direct burn damage, and smoke from the fires can also travel long distances and negatively affect human health.

“A better understanding of the causes and dynamics of wildland fires will help us develop new computational tools for predicting the occurrence of fires and mitigating their most devastating effects,” Hamlington said.

“Ultimately, our project is focused on the development of more accurate and reliable predictive tools that can be used by those seeking to understand and reduce fire risk.”

Beyond the Story

Our research impact by the numbers:

$742 million in research funding earned in 2023–24
No. 5 U.S. university for startup creation
$1.4 billion impact of CU Boulder's research activities on the Colorado economy in 2023–24

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CU researchers are setting fires inside wind tunnels to gain a better understanding of how fire spreads across different terrain.

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Postdoc working on AI for astronauts

Megan M Rogers — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 16:32:39 +0000

Postdoc working on AI for astronauts Megan M Rogers Wed, 12/03/2025 - 09:32

Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences

Ulubilge Ulusoy is advancing the science of artificial intelligence to help astronauts on future missions to Mars.

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A new possibility for life: Study suggests ancient skies rained down ingredients

Yvaine Ye — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 18:09:45 +0000

A new possibility for life: Study suggests ancient skies rained down ingredients Yvaine Ye Mon, 12/01/2025 - 11:09

Yvaine Ye

Earth’s atmosphere might have contributed to the origin of life more than previously thought.

In a study published Dec. 1 in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences," CU Boulder researchers and collaborators reveal that billions of years ago, the planet’s early sky might have been producing sulfur-containing molecules that were essential ingredients for life.

The finding challenges a long-held theory that these sulfur molecules emerged only after life had already formed.

“Our study could help us understand the evolution of life at its earliest stages,” said first author Nate Reed, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA, who conducted the work as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemistry and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at CU Boulder.

Nate Reed and Ellie Browne (Credit: Patrick Campbell/CU Boulder)

Just like carbon, sulfur is an essential element found in all life forms, from single-cell bacteria to humans. It is part of some amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein.

While the young Earth’s atmosphere contained sulfur elements, scientists had long thought that organic sulfur compounds, or biomolecules like amino acids, emerged later as a product of the living system.

In previous simulations of early Earth, scientists either failed to detect meaningful amounts of sulfur biomolecules before life existed, or created the molecules only under specialized conditions that were unlikely to be widespread on this planet.

As a result, when the James Webb Space Telescope detected dimethyl sulfide, an organic sulfur compound produced by marine algae on Earth, on another planet called K2-18b, many thought it was a possible sign of life on other planets.

But in previous work, Reed and the study’s senior author, Ellie Browne, a chemistry professor and a CIRES fellow, successfully created dimethyl sulfide in their lab using only light and common atmospheric gases. This suggested that this molecule could arise in places void of life.

This time, Browne, Reed and their team set off to see what early Earth’s sky could have contributed. They shone light on a gas mixture containing methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and nitrogen to simulate Earth’s atmosphere before life emerged.

Sulfur is a difficult element to work with in the lab, according to Browne. It tends to stick to all equipment, and in the atmosphere, sulfur molecules tend to exist at very low concentrations compared to CO2 and nitrogen. “You have to have equipment that can measure incredibly tiny quantities of the products,” she added.

Ellie Browne (Credit: Patrick Campbell/CU Boulder)

Using a highly sensitive mass spectrometry instrument that can identify and measure different chemical compounds, Browne’s team found that the early Earth simulation produced a whole suite of sulfur biomolecules, including the amino acids cysteine and taurine, as well as coenzyme M, a compound critical for metabolism.

When the team scaled their lab results to calculate how much cysteine an entire atmosphere could produce, they found that the early Earth’s sky might have brought cysteine to supply about one octillion—one followed by 27 zeros—cells. Currently, Earth boasts about one nonillion—one followed by 30 zeros—cells.

“While it’s not as many as what’s present now, that was still a lot of cysteine in an environment without life. It might be enough for a budding global ecosystem, where life is just getting started,” Reed said.

The team said these biomolecules formed in Earth’s atmosphere might have fallen onto the ground or oceans with rain, helping to get life started.

“Life probably required some very specialized conditions to get started, like near volcanoes or hydrothermal vents with complex chemistry,” Browne said. “We used to think life had to start completely from scratch, but our results suggest some of these more complex molecules were already widespread under non-specialized conditions, which might have made it a little easier for life to get going.”

A CU Boulder-led study finds that Earth's early atmosphere could have produced key sulfur biomolecules essential for life, challenging long-held assumptions.

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An artist’s interpretation of young Earth, with haze built up in the atmosphere. (Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Francis Reddy)

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An artist’s interpretation of young Earth, with haze built up in the atmosphere. (Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Francis Reddy)

Smart toilet design in Cambodia held promise, but key piece was missing

Megan M Rogers — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 19:30:00 +0000

Smart toilet design in Cambodia held promise, but key piece was missing Megan M Rogers Mon, 11/24/2025 - 12:30

College of Engineering and Applied Science

Assistant Teaching Professor James Harper recently led a behavioral study analyzing toilet use in Cambodia. The goal was to introduce a smart design that could keep rural households safe and protect the environment. But a crucial piece was missing.

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Research center embarks on next 5 years of pioneering quantum tech

Daniel William Strain — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 17:54:23 +0000

Research center embarks on next 5 years of pioneering quantum tech Daniel William… Mon, 11/17/2025 - 10:54

This story was adapted from a version published by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Read the original here.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has renewed funding for the Quantum Systems Accelerator (QSA), a DOE National Quantum Information Science Research Center led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) in partnership with Sandia National Laboratories. CU Boulder is one of 15 partner institutions on the research center.

QSA builds and demonstrates quantum technologies and computing prototypes to transform quantum information science into breakthroughs for society. These advances will enable scientists to use quantum computers to design new materials, discover new chemicals and reactions, and accelerate breakthroughs in energy, physics, biology, and chemistry.

The total planned funding for QSA is $125 million over five years, with $25 million in year one and out-year funding contingent on congressional appropriations.

“This renewed funding is a vital investment in advancing quantum technology for our nation,” said Massimo Ruzzene, senior vice chancellor for research and innovation and dean of the institutes at CU Boulder. “Together with other key initiatives like the National Quantum Nanofab facility and the Quantum Systems through Entangled Science and Engineering (Q-SEnSE) Quantum Leap Challenge Institute, the QSA strengthens CU Boulder’s rapidly expanding capacity to translate quantum advances into real-world solutions benefitting society.”

QSA is one of five National Quantum Information Science (QIS) Research Centers established by DOE in 2020 to expand the frontier of what’s possible in quantum computing, communication, sensing, and materials in ways that will advance basic science for energy, security, communication, and logistics. Together, the centers have strengthened the national quantum information science ecosystem, achieving scientific and technological breakthroughs as well as training the next-generation quantum workforce. DOE has renewed funding for all five centers.

The center combines world-leading expertise and capabilities across national labs, academia, and industry. QSA will also partner with industry, such as Nobel Prize winner John Martinis’ Qolab, to advance quantum technology for DOE and commercial applications. These public-private partnerships will ensure that QSA’s science and technology advances are industry-relevant at every stage.

CU Boulder participates in QSA through the Q-SEnSE research institute. Q-SEnSE, which is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, launched in 2020 and focuses on, among other goals, exploring how advanced quantum sensing can discover new fundamental physics.

“With the renewal of DOE funding for the Quantum Systems Accelerator, we at CU Boulder are in a great position to deepen our contributions to national quantum innovation by connecting QSA efforts with the NSF-funded Q-SEnSE Institute and our CUbit Quantum Initiative,” said Inese Berzina-Pitcher, executive director of Q-SEnSE. “I am excited for what the next five years will bring as we work with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and our QSA partners to advance quantum science and technology.”

Among QSA’s many achievements in its first five years, the center made world-leading advancements on three promising qubit technologies: trapped ions, neutral atoms, and superconducting circuits. These achievements are laying the foundation for building practical quantum systems that can tackle real-world scientific and energy challenges and have strengthened QSA’s role in keeping the U.S. at the forefront of transformative quantum technologies.

“QSA plays a vital role in advancing QIS across the U.S. by bridging the gap between national labs, academia, and industry. By fostering collaboration, QSA ensures that breakthroughs can move from experimental stages to practical applications, benefiting the nation,” said QSA Director and Berkeley Lab scientist Bert de Jong.

Since launching in 2020, QSA has enabled major advances in quantum information science, including record-setting sensors, smarter algorithms, and more. QSA achieved a major milestone by being the first to develop and operate atom-based quantum simulators with over 200 qubits, while also advancing superconducting processors and trapped-ion technologies. QSA researchers also built quantum devices so precise they can detect tiny changes in Earth’s gravity, and created quantum error-correcting techniques that bring scientists closer to fault-tolerant quantum computers.

QSA’s initiatives have led to over a dozen patents, numerous scientific publications, and the creation of startups that are bringing quantum technology to the market. Multiple quantum companies have benefited from QSA’s extensive research network and ongoing collaborations, utilizing the expertise, feedback, and techniques shared by QSA partners to enhance their processes. Additionally, five QSA principal investigators have co-founded quantum companies, applying research results to promising industry use cases.

Beyond the story

Our quantum impact by the numbers:

60-plus years as the regional epicenter for quantum research
4 Nobel prizes in physics awarded to university researchers
No. 11 quantum physics program in the nation and co-leader on the new Quantum Incubator facility

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CU Boulder is one of 15 partner institutions on a research center that is spurring new quantum technologies, including sensors that can detect phenomena beyond the reach of traditional tools.

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NIST and CU Boulder researcher Laura Sinclair works on the summit of Mount Blue Sky in Colorado as part of a project using quantum technologies to measure how gravity can affect the passage of time. (Credit: Glenn Asakawa/CU Boulder)

The reaches of CU Boulder research

Megan M Rogers — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 21:53:50 +0000

The reaches of CU Boulder research Megan M Rogers Thu, 11/13/2025 - 14:53

Coloradan

CU researchers across space science, bioengineering and nanomaterials are turning "what if" questions into transformative discoveries.

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CU Boulder delivers impactful research and creative work, despite federal funding uncertainty

Megan M Rogers — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 17:04:13 +0000

CU Boulder delivers impactful research and creative work, despite federal funding uncertainty Megan M Rogers Fri, 10/31/2025 - 11:04

CU Boulder researchers continued to deliver meaningful, positive outcomes in the university's public research mission through strong results in fiscal year 2024–25. Highlights of their work include big innovations in quantum technology, improving our understanding of space weather, and enhancing environmental resiliency.

The pace of growth in research funding at CU Boulder tapered in the new year due to cuts and funding pauses by federal agencies, including the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and NASA. At $766.7 million, the newly released sponsored research funding numbers for CU Boulder reflect a 3.3% increase over the prior year.

CU Boulder drives $5B boost to Colorado's economy

“The research, scholarship and creative work produced by CU Boulder faculty, researchers and students directly impacts people’s lives,” said Massimo Ruzzene, senior vice chancellor for research and innovation and dean of the institutes. “We are committed to advocating for the support needed to drive advances that strengthen our national security, enhance peoples’ health, ensure our nation’s continued leadership in scholarship and innovation, and spark economic development in Colorado and beyond.”

The bulk of the research funding, or 69%, comes from federal agencies, including NASA, the NSF, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), NIH, the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy. The state of Colorado contributed $15 million of the total. Nonprofits and international organizations supported CU Boulder research and creative work to the tune of $102 million; industry accounted for $31 million; and other universities provided $47 million of the funding.

Here are a few research program highlights from CU Boulder.

Innovating at a quantum scale

The NSF invested $20 million in CU Boulder to launch a facility known as the National Quantum Nanofab. In this facility, Colorado researchers and quantum specialists from industry and research institutions around the country will design and build devices that tap into the world of the tiny packets of energy that make up light.

Principal Investigator Scott Diddams, professor in the Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, alongside a team of physicists and engineers, leads the work in this makerspace.

Improving understanding of space weather

A team at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) has received $2 million to develop a concept study for a NASA mission that will investigate how Earth’s lower atmosphere influences the upper atmosphere. The results will improve and expand our understanding of the space weather system surrounding our planet.

The group, which is led by LASP researcher Aimee Merkel, is one of three selected by NASA to develop detailed proposals for the agency’s DYNAMIC (Dynamical Neutral Atmosphere-Ionosphere Coupling) mission.

Helping communities adapt to climate change

CU Boulder’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) has received a new five-year, $1.4 million cooperative agreement to continue hosting the North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center (NC CASC) from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Since its founding in 2018, the center provides actionable science to help communities, ecosystems and economies in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska adapt to climate change.

Led by William Travis, associate professor of geography, the center advances the development and delivery of actionable science to help fish, wildlife, water, land and people in the North Central region adapt to a changing environment.

Learn more about NC CASC here.

Pairing humans and AI to help students learn

CU Boulder joined six other teams that make up the Learning Engineering Virtual Institute (LEVI). The institute's goal is to double the rate of middle school math learning within five years, focusing on students from low-income backgrounds.

Professors Sidney D'Mello and Tamara Sumner of the Department of Computer Science and Institute of Cognitive Science join professors Peter Foltz, Jennifer Jacobs and Jeffrey Bush of the Institute of Cognitive Science in leading the project team. CU Boulder's project is the Hybrid Human-AI Tutoring (HAT) platform.

Learn more about LEVI and HAT.

Creating a Band-Aid for the heart

In the quest to develop lifelike materials to replace and repair human body parts, scientists face a formidable challenge: Real tissues are often both strong and stretchable and vary in shape and size. A CU Boulder-led team, in collaboration with researchers at the �Թ�� of Pennsylvania, has taken a critical step toward cracking that code:

They’ve developed a new way to 3D print material that is at once elastic enough to withstand a heart’s persistent beating, tough enough to endure the crushing load placed on joints, and easily shapable to fit a patient’s unique defects.

A significant amount of sponsored research funding is directed to programs and researchers with unique expertise, such as biotechnology and aerospace, which stimulates industry.

Sponsored research funding from federal, state, international and foundation entities targets specific projects to advance research in laboratories and in the field. Research funding also helps pay for research-related capital improvements, scientific equipment, travel and salaries for research and support staff and student assistantships. CU cannot divert this funding to non-research-related expenses.

CU Boulder researchers continued to deliver meaningful, positive outcomes in the university's public research mission through strong results in fiscal year 2024–25.

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Researchers aim to identify pika calls through 'acoustic fingerprinting'

Megan M Rogers — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 19:31:43 +0000

Researchers aim to identify pika calls through 'acoustic fingerprinting' Megan M Rogers Thu, 10/30/2025 - 13:31

INSTAAR

Chris Ray has studied pika populations in the West for nearly four decades. Today, she is collaborating with doctoral student Rachel Mae Billings on a project that could revolutionize the field.

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New 'molecular dam' stops energy leaks in nanocrystals

Megan M Rogers — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 16:25:13 +0000

New 'molecular dam' stops energy leaks in nanocrystals Megan M Rogers Tue, 10/28/2025 - 10:25

A molecular engineering breakthrough could make key light-driven reactions over 40 times more efficient.

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Migration no guarantee of bird biodiversity

Megan M Rogers — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 16:15:12 +0000

Migration no guarantee of bird biodiversity Megan M Rogers Tue, 10/28/2025 - 10:15

Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine

CU Boulder researchers are challenging long-held assumptions about the relationship between bird migration and the process by which new species arise.

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Science & Technology

Wind tunnel research could help predict how wildfires spread

Teasing apart the elements of wildfire

Looking forward

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