Facebook’s Oversight Board voted to uphold the social media company’s suspension of former President Donald Trump on its platforms but insisted the company must review the suspension to determine an appropriate length of time and develop clearer policies to balance freedom of expression and public safety. Professor of government Sarah Kreps says that Facebook’s Oversight Board acts like a private firm without real accountability of its own and that its consequential decision making over Facebook’s policies require additional independent oversight.
On Monday, the Biden administration announced a significant increase in the number of refugees allowed to enter the United States. The announcement comes as the administration also begins to reunite parents separated from their children under the Trump administration’s family separation policy. Maria Cristina Garcia, professor of history and Latino studies, and Chiara Galli, sociologist and Klarman Postdoctoral Fellow, comment.
Cornell researchers are working to restore our planet’s natural resources — from the soil to the seas to the skies — and helping to ensure a sustainable future for years to come.
On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 51, a bill that would make the District of Columbia the 51st state. David Bateman, professor of government says that while much of the critique of H.R. 51 is political, the bill represents a decision about whether residents of DC merit equal rights of citizenship.
On Tuesday, Derek Chauvin was convicted by a jury of killing George Floyd in an act of police violence on May 25, 2020. Joe Margulies, professor of law and government, says the verdict in Chauvin’s case underscores that police should only respond to calls requiring an armed officer.
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Chicago artist Mac Blackout's mural encouraging Americans to get out and vote.
On Wednesday, hundreds of companies’ executives joined in a new statement to call out Republican-sponsored voting bills that they say will curtail voting access in several American states. History professor Lawrence Glickman, an expert on consumer activism, comments
Federal health agencies have recommended pausing the use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine after six people developed blood clots within two weeks of receiving the one-shot vaccine. Government professors Sarah Kreps and Doug Kriner, who have surveyed nearly 2,000 American adults on issues regarding their willingness to get a vaccine, comment.
“These outstanding young scientists are the future of astrophysics, and their impact on our understanding of the cosmos will be felt for decades to come."
The Biden administration is making a pitch this week for new legislation that could provide a combined $3 trillion for infrastructure such as roads, rail lines, electric vehicle charging stations and grid upgrades, while investing in universal pre-kindergarten, paid family leave and free community college. Noliwe Rooks, the W.E.B. Du Bois Professor in Africana studies and an expert on the role of segregation in American society, comments.
Image by Madcoverboy; Creative Commons license 3.0
Evanston, Illinois
On Monday night the city of Evanston, Illinois approved the nation’s first government-run reparations program that would make funds available to Black families for homeownership and mortgage assistance. Olúfémi Táíwò, professor of Africana studies, and Noliwe Rooks, the W.E.B. Du Bois Professor in Africana studies and director of the American Studies Program, comment.
On Tuesday, Israelis will vote in their fourth parliamentary election in two years. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party is engaged in a tight race that some commentators say will end up rewarding Netanyahu’s management of vaccine distribution in recent months. Uriel Abulof, visiting associate professor of government, comments.
Eight people were shot and killed Tuesday night at Atlanta-area massage parlors, six of whom were of Asian descent. Christine Bacareza Balance, director of the Asian American Studies Program and professor of performing & media arts at Cornell University, says such violent acts are a part of the white supremacist systemic violence against Black, indigenous, and all other communities of color.
Top officials from the U.S. and China will meet in Anchorage on Thursday and Friday for the first high level summit after President Biden took office. Cornell College of Arts and Sciences faculty experts Allen Carlson discusses the political and economic implications of the summit.
The Vatican’s orthodoxy office has issued a formal response to a question about whether Catholic clergy have the authority to bless same-sex unions, saying the Catholic Church won’t bless same-sex unions since God “cannot bless sin.” Professors Landon Schnabel (sociology) and Kim Haines-Eitzen (religious studies) comment.
The Biden administration plans to unveil its comprehensive immigration bill on Thursday alongside Congressional leaders. The following Cornell University experts, including Gustavo Flores-Macias, professor of government and the former Director of Public Affairs in Mexico’s Consumer Protection Agency, speak about the bill.
NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Perseverance rover fires up its descent stage engines as it nears the Martian surface in this illustration.
NASA’s Perseverance rover has been on a journey to Mars since its launch in July 2020 and is set to land on the red planet on Feb. 18. Alex Hayes, professor of astronomy, is a co-investigator for Perseverance’s Mastcam-Z — a set of stereo cameras that will be the “eyes of the rover.”
Facebook announced on Wednesday that it will begin implementing changes to its algorithm to reduce political content on its users’ news feeds. Doing so, Facebook risks sowing more discord, says Sarah Kreps, professor of government.
Magnus Fiskesjö, professor of anthropology at Cornell University and expert on Southeast Asia, comments on continuing protesters in Myanmar against the military coup that reversed last November’s election.
With support from the National Institutes of Health, Phillip J. Milner, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, is developing metal-organic frameworks—a class of porous, crystalline nanomaterials—that can stabilize volatile fluorine-containing reagents.
