Using the now-complete Cassini data set, Cornell astronomers have created a new global topographic map of Saturn’s moon Titan that has opened new windows into understanding its liquid flows and terrain. Two new papers, published Dec. 2 in Geophysical Review Letters, describe the map and discoveries arising from it.
With the new emphasis on hands-on, active learning throughout higher education, lab courses would seem to have an advantage – what could be more active than doing experiments? But surprising new research reveals traditional labs fall far short of their pedagogical goals.
An unfortunate church dinner more than 100 years ago did more than just spread typhoid fever to scores of Californians. It led theorists on a quest to understand why many diseases – including typhoid, measles, polio, malaria, even cancer – take so much longer to develop in some affected people than in others.
Exposure to stressors can profoundly influence how individuals cope with future challenges, sometimes priming them for future stress and sometimes debilitating them. While social connectedness has emerged as a key predictor of the psychophysiological impact of stress, it's very difficult to test in a lab setting.
The collaboration between Cornell’s Jewish Studies Program and the Center for Jewish History in New York City continues with two upcoming events on January 8 and March 26.
The trip, which helped students understand how forensic anthropology methods are employed today, included a discussion about 9/11 and a visit to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.
When we experience losses that seem insurmountable, how do we once again plant the seeds of hope? Hope is an integral part of social life. Yet, hope has not been studied systematically in the social sciences.
Roberto Sierra, Old Dominion Foundation Professor in the Humanities in the Department of Music, has been awarded the Tomás Luis de Victoria Prize, the highest honor given in Spain to a composer of Spanish or Latin American origin, by the Society of Spanish Composers (SGAE) Foundation.
For Sagar Chapagain ’17, his interdisciplinary studies degree from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences completes another step toward a career in medicine and health policy.
Mike Yunxuan Li ‘20, like many sophomores in the College of Arts & Sciences, has focused on classes he enjoys. From exploring fields that he is curious about to interacting with professors outside his main areas of interest, Li explained how he is making the most of his time at Cornell.
Cornell has a history of hiring faculty with strengths and interests in German, not only within the Department of German Studies, but throughout the university.
So, 25 years ago, Professor Peter Uwe Hohendahl set about creating an institute that could bring faculty from across campus with interests in German together for conferences and colloquia to share ideas, opinions and research.
The program connects Latinx undergraduate students to graduate students to ease the transition to higher education, encourage community engagement and help students manage academics.
Tucked away in the basement of Clark Hall are five staff members whose machining expertise is integral to the success of many of the designs, experiments and innovations of Cornell’s physics faculty, graduate students and postdocs, as well as to work done within other departments and units across campus.
The algorithm is having a cultural moment. Originally a math and computer science term, algorithms are now used to account for everything from military drone strikes and financial market forecasts to Google search results.
Cornell philosopher Kate Manne, author of "Down GIrl: The Logic of Misogyny," explains in this Newsweek editorial why powerful men get away with abusing women for decades, such as Salma Hayek's treatment from Harvey Weinstein.
How does the “big” get built up from the “small”? How do belief and thought in a brain emerge from subatomic particles? In her new book, “Making Things Up,” philosopher Karen Bennett tackles the question of how fundamental things determine or generate less fundamental things, and what it all means.
President Martha E. Pollack has committed the university to a new multi-institution initiative to make public data pertaining to career outcomes for life sciences doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers.
Geoffrey W. Coates, the Tisch University Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, is one of 155 new members elected to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the organization announced Dec. 12. The 2017 NAI fellows will be inducted April 5, 2018, at the NAI annual conference in Washington, D.C.
Dieting is a $60 billion industry, with 45 million Americans trying to lose weight every year. But despite all the money and effort, these diets haven’t succeeded for the two-thirds of Americans who are overweight or obese. In “Diet and the Disease of Civilization,” Adrienne Rose Bitar defines “success” differently: What if diet books work like literature?
As fires rage across southern California, upstate economies struggle and teenagers crave educations that matter, Engaged Faculty Fellows are asking what they can do to help – and designing courses that do. The seven faculty members in this year’s cohort are developing community-engaged classes that give students hands-on experience and empower them to be global citizens – all while advancing community partners’ missions and contributing solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges.
Alum Sam Naimi '17, who double majored in feminist, gender, & sexuality studies, and English literature, talks about his experience working full time in the entertainment industry.
A new online, interactive exhibition celebrating the 40th anniversary of NASA’s Voyager spacecrafts’ Golden Records is raising funds for three organizations, one of them Cornell’s Carl Sagan Institute (CSI). “A Message from Earth” represents a “collage of the contemporary human condition,” according to exhibit organizer WeTransfer’s press release.
Pianist Andy Sheng ’20 is the winner of the 14th annual Cornell Concerto Competition, held Dec. 10 in Barnes Hall Auditorium. He performed the first movement of Beethoven’s Concerto No. 4 and will perform the piece as a featured soloist with the Cornell Symphony Orchestra in a concert March 11, 2018, in Bailey Hall.
Each Wednesday Ellen Abrams, a Ph.D candidate in science & technology studies, leads a class of high school students in New York City through workshops and discussions about writing, history and current events, as she works to introduce them to the landscape of higher education.
Fundamental processes that occur along strands of DNA, including RNA transcription and DNA replication, commonly encounter obstacles – or “roadblocks” – that can impede progress and ultimately result in mutations and/or DNA damage.
Imagine you are watching an NBA basketball game, and you are asked to bet on the outcome of the game. Are you likely to put your money on the team with the player who appears to be unstoppable- the one who just made his last three shots and is just about to shoot again? What if that same player goes for the shot and misses, but the referee mistakenly calls a foul when there was none and allows the player a free throw. Would you expect the player to make the shot?
Starting Jan. 1, 2018, Cornell University Press will report to Cornell University Library.
“We look forward to working closely with the first university press in the nation,” said Gerald Beasley, the Carl A. Kroch University Librarian. “Both the library and the press share a similar vision to promote a culture of broad inquiry and support the university’s mission to discover, preserve, and disseminate knowledge and creative expression.”
Exciting things are happening in classrooms throughout the College of Arts & Sciences as new, research-based approaches to teaching spread through the disciplines.
Innovative approaches to pedagogy are changing the future of Cornell, and the College of Arts and Sciences has launched a web feature to spotlight new developments throughout the college. The site includes stories about teaching methods, education research, curriculum redesign and more.
"While other historical works on the revolution tend to skip over the year 1774," says Mary Beth Norton, "noboday has ever paused to look seriously at the events of the year 1774, to see how the American population, which previously has been quite united in opposition to Britain, divides over various issues."
Six students were recently honored by the Department of Performing & Media Arts as winners of the Heermans-McCalmon writing competition for the best playwriting and screenwriting produced by students.
“Giving students platforms for artistic expression is so important,” Gloria Oladipo ‘21 said. “PMA students need platforms for their work in the same way that science students need labs to run experiments. Artists should be able to stand by their work and embrace it fully.”
At this year’s eLab Pitch Night in New York City, 14 teams comprising 50 Cornell eLab students pitched their entrepreneurial ideas in hopes of securing mentors, advisers and supporters for their teams. The event, held Dec. 1 at Wilmer Hale’s World Trade Center offices, gathered Cornell students, alumni and those with an interest in entrepreneurship and innovation.
Mariana Federica Wolfner ‘74, Goldwin Smith Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics, has received the 2017 Recognition Award in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology from the Entomological Society of America. The award recognizes scientists who have distinguished themselves through innovative research in these areas of entomology.
Since the 1970s, the Greek island of Santorini has enjoyed a thriving tourism industry. While the nearly 2 million people who annually visit the island pump money into the local economy, they also put a tremendous strain on the island’s infrastructure, particularly the usage of water. This problem is compounded by a lack of rainfall during the dry summer months when the tourist season is at its peak.
The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies has awarded five seed grants and four small grants to Cornell faculty members to support their international research. Recipients come from seven departments in six Cornell colleges.
The final painting historian Mostafa Minawi shared in his Nov. 29 talk on the Ottoman Empire’s struggle for survival said it all: In the foreground, European delegates stand energetically discussing the partitioning of the African continent. The sole representative of the Ottoman Empire in the painting is hunched over in a chair, hand covering his face and identified only by the fez he wears.
A broad, representative group of three dozen students, faculty and staff — including 10 faculty and students from the College of Arts & Sciences — has been named to the Presidential Task Force on Campus Climate, Cornell President Martha E. Pollack announced Dec. 4.
