Collaboration sparks new model for ceramic conductivity

An interdisciplinary team’s work will help researchers who are custom-tailoring the properties of metal oxides in technologies such as lithium ion batteries, fuel cells and electrocatalysis.

Analysis: Trump White House NDAs are likely unconstitutional

Nondisclosure agreements implemented by the Trump White House likely infringe on the First Amendment rights of government employees and the press, according to a report by Cornell Law School’s First Amendment Clinic.

Webinar highlights advocacy for international students

More than 700 people attended “Ballots and Borders: Election 2020; What’s at Stake for International Students and Scholars,” a webinar on Oct. 19 featuring Cornell Law School immigration expert Stephen Yale-Loehr.

Efficacy, politics influence public trust in COVID-19 vaccine

In surveys of nearly 2,000 American adults, barely half said they would be willing to take a hypothetical vaccine with an efficacy, or effectiveness, of 50% – the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s minimum threshold for a COVID-19 vaccine.

Conference to explore tactile approaches to media, virtually

“Media Objects,” a media studies conference originally scheduled for March 2020 at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, has been reconfigured into a virtual event, with the first panel scheduled for Oct. 23.

Democracy 20/20 webinar to examine U.S. polarization

The next installment of the Democracy 20/20 webinar series, scheduled for Oct. 30 at 2 p.m., will tackle polarization and how tensions between the political parties and the social groups they represent are redefining American democracy.

Using microbes, scientists aim to extract rare-earth elements

A U.S. Department of Energy agency has awarded $1 million to Cornell researchers, who are using programmed microbes to mine rare-earth minerals used in consumer electronics and advanced renewable energy.

Religion: less ‘opiate,’ more suppressant, study finds

Rather than making people less political, religion shapes people’s political ideas, suppressing important group differences and progressive political positions, according to sociologist Landon Schnabel.

Michael Morley, emeritus professor of math, dies at 90

Winner of the Leroy P. Steele Prize for Seminal Contribution to Research for his advances in mathematical logic and model theory, Michael Morley was also a devoted advisor of Cornell students. He died Oct. 11.