By the time journalists finish the hands-on workshop "Nanoscale Science Under the Microscope," Oct. 3-5, 2004, at Cornell University, they should know what nanotechnology is.
Technology Review magazine has named Alyssa Apsel, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell, one of the world's 100 Top Young Innovators in 2004. Apsel and the other 99 honorees -- known as the TR100 -- were chosen by a panel of judges from a field of 650 final candidates under the age of 35 whose innovative work has transformed the nature of technology and business. (September 20, 2004)
The Cornell University chapter of Acacia fraternity has received five awards from its national fraternal organization, including the prestigious National Award of Merit to an outstanding alumnus. Steven L. Stein, Class of 1973, was presented the award by chapter president Thomas Balcerski, Class of 2005, at the Fall Scholarship Banquet of the Cornell chapter Sept. 12. The Award of Merit is Acacia's highest honor, recognizing individuals who have rendered outstanding service to the fraternity or attained a high position in their community or profession. The award is given only to alumni, and no more than 10 can be given at each biannual national conclave. This year, Stein was one of seven recipients nationally; he is one of only six Cornell Acacians to have received the award. (September 20, 2004)
New York, NY (September 17, 2004) -- Cholesterol-busting statin medications have revolutionized the prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease (CHD), the leading killer of American men and women.But a recent move by the British government toward approval of low-dose, over-the-counter (OTC) simvastatin (Zocor®) has raised heated debate here in the U.S. Now, in his editorial in the September 15 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology, Dr. Antonio M. Gotto, Jr., Professor of Medicine and the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, says the proven effectiveness and good safety record of statin medications argues for a similar move in the U.S.
On Oct. 13, 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments in Roper v. Simmons, a case that could determine the future of the juvenile death penalty in America. Joan Jacobs Brumberg, Cornell University professor of history, human development and gender studies, with expertise on the history of American childhood, says the court must -- once and for all -- halt the practice of executing minors. "America cannot legitimately hold itself up as a beacon of human rights around the world as long as we continue to execute people for crimes committed as juveniles." (September 17, 2004)
Five World Food Prize laureates will address the problem of world hunger in a fall semester seminar series, as part of Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) yearlong centennial celebration. The seminars will be in Room G10 of the Biotechnology Building on campus from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. and are free and open to the public. The first seminar, Sept. 23, "Accomplishments and Aspirations: Linking Agriculture, Nutrition and Health," features World Food Prize laureates Nevin Scrimshaw (1991), Catherine Bertini (2003) and Cornell Professor Per Pinstrup-Andersen (2001). (September 16, 2004)
Cornell developmental psychologist Stephen J. Ceci is the recipient of the 2004-05 American Psychological Society's James McKeen Cattell Award "for a lifetime of outstanding contributions to the area of psychological research whose research addresses a critical problem in society at large."
Joe Trippi, the first campaign director for Howard Dean's presidential primary bid, will speak on "Conservatism on College Campuses" Tuesday, Sept. 21, at 5 p.m. in 305 Ives Hall on the Cornell University campus. The talk is co-sponsored by the Cornell Mock Election student group and the Cornell Democrats. It is open to the public without charge. (September 16, 2004)
Fay Vincent, the former commissioner of Major League Baseball, will deliver the Stephen and Evalyn Milman Lecture in American Culture and Baseball Wednesday, Sept. 22, at 4:30 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium of Goldwin Smith Hall. Vincent's talk, "The Baseball Mystery: Why Is It So Special?" is free and open to the public. Vincent became the eighth commissioner of baseball in 1989, following the death of A. Bartlett Giamatti, and resigned in 1992. In his first tumultuous year as commissioner, he presided over the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics, which was interrupted for 10 days by the Loma Prieta earthquake. During his first year, Vincent also endured an acrimonious owners lockout and oversaw the suspension of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. (September 16, 2004)
The past and future of modernism in Havana and Miami as it is embodied in art, buildings and landscapes is the subject of a conference at Cornell this Friday and Saturday, Sept. 17-18.
Using a carbon nanotube, Cornell University researchers have produced a tiny electromechanical oscillator that might be capable of weighing a single atom. The device, perhaps the smallest of its kind ever produced, can be tuned across a wide range of radio frequencies, and one day might replace bulky power-hungry elements in electronic circuits. Recent research in nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) has focused on vibrating silicon rods so small that they oscillate at radio frequencies. By replacing the silicon rod with a carbon nanotube, the Cornell researchers have created an oscillator that is even smaller and very durable. Besides serving as a radio frequency circuit element, the new device has applications in mass sensing and basic research. (September 15, 2004)
Eighty-five hundred years after someone in ancient Anatolia drilled holes in the wings of a crane -- evidently to make a bird costume for a ritual dance -- then hid one wing in a narrow space between mudbrick houses at Çatalhöyük in what today is Turkey.
