Study identifies human microRNAs linked to Type 2 diabetes

MicroRNA (miRNA) molecules in pancreatic islets have been thought to play important roles in Type 2 diabetes, but until now scientists have not confidently identified which miRNAs are associated with the disease in humans.

Cornell-led Team Selected for NSF's Convergence Accelerator

The project, dubbed AUGER (Accelerating Use of Geologically-driven Engineering & Reclamation), was awarded $739K of funding from NSF’s Convergence Accelerator to support translational research combining x-ray and hyperspectral imaging capabilities at CHESS with remote sensing techniques to link macroscale data with microscale mineral properties to create predictive mining insights.

Around Cornell

Elusive transition shows universal quantum signatures

Understanding the physics behind this mysterious phase transition could lead to new complex microscopic circuits, superconductors and exotic insulators that could find use in quantum computing.

The right time to claim Social Security? It’s complicated

Dyson professor Suzanne Shu and colleagues found that considering one’s “future self” played a key role in how people decide when to start collecting monthly Social Security benefits. Societal norms regarding retirement, however, do not.

Precise magma locations aid volcanic eruption forecasts

Cornell scientists have unearthed precise, microscopic clues to where magma is stored in Earth’s mantle, offering scientists – and government officials – a way to gauge volcanic eruption risk.

Same-race reviews reduce inequality in Airbnb bookings

White Airbnb guests’ preference for white hosts unexpectedly is offset by the influence of same-race reviews, new Cornell research finds.

Rare drought coincided with Hittite Empire collapse

An interdisciplinary collaboration used tree ring and isotope records to pinpoint a likely culprit for the collapse of the Hittite Empire: three straight years of severe drought in an already dry period.

Islamic mysticism shows the limits of knowledge in an unstable world

In her new book, “Unknowing and the Everyday: Sufism and Knowledge in Iran,” Seema Golestaneh explores the ways the Sufi mystical experience – particularly the role of mystical knowledge – is shaping contemporary life in Iran.

Spanish lagoon proposed as Mars ‘astrobiological time-analog’

An investigation at Tirez lagoon in central Spain, analogous to the surface of Mars, concludes that if life existed when the planet had liquid water on its surface, desiccation would not have necessarily implied that life disappeared for good.