Mark Wysocki, senior lecturer in earth and atmospheric sciences, explains, "So what we have noticed this year is kind of a combination that we have a Pacific Ocean that is a little bit colder than average, which we call a cold pacific or a La Nina. And that tends to force the polar jet stream to move northward into Alaska, and by doing so, that allows the warmer air from the south to penetrate further north. So we end up with this big dome of warm air over the west coast.” 

“We have an instinctive need for connection to other people—it’s essential to our survival. We worry that saying no will break these bonds,” says Vanessa Bohns, professor of organizational behavior.

Neil Lewis, assistant professor of communication, says that because of U.S. culture’s focus on the individual, vaccine benefits have been communicated as those pertaining to the individual. However, Lewis notes that focusing on the individual is at odds “with how infection works,” leading to an “extreme mismatch.”  

“To call it a zero-emissions fuel is totally wrong,” says Robert W. Howarth, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and the study’s lead author. “What we found is that it’s not even a low-emissions fuel, either.”

“‘The fundamental shift and reckoning of the hospitality industry is happening because the pandemic actually changed the perception of those jobs’ to something more valued and necessary,” says Patricia Campos-Medina, co-director of the Worker Institute. 

Nikole Lewis, assistant professor of astronomy, talks about her upcoming work with the James Webb Space Telescope and her early interest in planets. 

Carrie Brown-Lima, head of the New York Invasive Species Research Institute at Cornell, says invasive pests are thriving in conditions she never thought they could. Brown-Lima notes, “We really need to shift our thinking to understand that those rules don’t apply anymore.”

Alex Susskind, associate dean for academic affairs at the School of Hotel Administration, says, “Full-service operators, operators of bars… need to have a labor pool they can rely on, they need to be able to expand their labor pool and the way long-term they can do that is to make their employees feel safe.” 

“We know that weather varies a lot from day to day,” says Flavio Lehner, assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences. “The question is when [extreme weather events] occur, are they stronger, longer and more severe than they would have been without climate change?” 

“This is one of the ironies in the crypto space: The crypto industry would like to have the government’s imprimatur, because it gives them legitimacy. But once they have to deal with the specifics of being regulated — like reporting requirements — they do not like it,” says Eswar Prasad, professor of economics and trade policy. 

Diane Burton, academic director of the Institute for Compensation Studies at the ILR School, says that companies’ announcing pay increases for entry-level jobs affects their internal workforces. “The symbolic aspects of wages matter. People want to know how they stack up,” Burton says. 

Brooke Erin Duffy, professor of communication, says, “The push to self-brand is happening at a younger and younger age, and I see it with my students.” Duffy also discusses the potential long-term implications of a large digital footprint for children.