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Scientists of the international Pierre Auger Collaboration that included a University of Colorado at Boulder co-author have found that active galactic nuclei, thought to be powered by black holes, are the most likely candidate for the source of the highest-energy cosmic rays that hit Earth.

Retired NASA Mercury astronaut and University of Colorado at Boulder alumnus Scott Carpenter, the second American to orbit Earth, will be on campus Nov. 15 to present a $10,000 scholarship from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation to University of Colorado at Boulder senior Ben Safdi.

A national foundation that recognizes the achievements of science, engineering and medical scholars will award $166,000 in scholarships to Colorado students during an annual luncheon next week at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The Colorado chapter of the Achievement Rewards for College Â鶹ÒùÔº, or ARCS Foundation, will hold its annual scholar luncheon at noon on Thursday, Nov. 15, in the Stadium Club at CU-BoulderÂ’s Folsom Field.

Paul Leef, who has had more than 20 years of building and renovation experience in higher education, has been named director of planning, design and construction and campus architect at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Leef will oversee the next phase of improvements and new construction to the 9.3 million-square-feet of campus buildings. His appointment in the Department of Facilities Management will become effective on Nov. 12.

Law professor Sarah Krakoff will deliver the 33rd annual University of Colorado at Boulder School of Law's Austin W. Scott Lecture on Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. in the Wolf Law Building. The lecture titled "Parenting the Planet: Environmental and Other Ethics in the Face of Potential Tragedy," is free and open to the public and CU-Boulder alumni, faculty, staff and students and the public.

Biofuels experts from universities, government and industry will participate in a public forum at the University of Colorado at Boulder on Thursday, Nov. 8, to discuss new research on ethanol fuels and their use in Colorado in the coming years.

Individual brain chemistry and genes could be key to understanding why some people become addicted to nicotine and why the chemical compound's effects appear to diminish at night, University of Colorado at Boulder researchers say. "The depth of a person's addiction to nicotine appears to depend on his or her unique internal chemistry and genetic make-up," said lead author Jerry Stitzel, an assistant professor in CU-Boulder's department of integrative physiology and researcher with CU-Boulder's Institute for Behavioral Genetics.

Environmental science was a fledgling discipline when the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) was established in 1967. Forty years later, environmental science issues and the researchers who study them are in the spotlight.

The University of Colorado at Boulder is teaming up with the Boulder Rotary and Art Cleaners of Boulder on the 8th annual Winter Warmth Drive to collect warm winter clothing for needy individuals. The clothing drive begins on Monday, Nov. 5, and will continue through Wednesday, Nov. 28. Drop-off boxes will be located in all of the nine dean's offices and at several other locations. All clothing and blankets will be distributed through Boulder nonprofit agencies and blankets will be donated to the Boulder Homeless Shelter.

The University of Colorado at Boulder physics department will continue its Saturday Physics Series with a presentation on the invisible world of elementary particles and antiparticles on Nov. 10. Physics Professor William Ford will present the talk "Quantum Oscillations and Antimatter" at 2 p.m. in Duane Physics room G1B30. The event is free and open to the public.