PASADENA, Calif. -- The Cornell University-developed, mast-mounted panoramic camera, called the Pancam, on board the rovers Spirit and Opportunity will provide the clearest, most-detailed Martian landscapes ever seen. The image resolution -- equivalent to 20/20 vision for a person standing on the Martian surface -- will be three times higher than that recorded by the cameras on the Mars Pathfinder mission in 1997 or the Viking Landers in the mid-1970s.
PASADENA, Calif. -- Facelifts can sag. Botox is temporary. But modern science has a new way to return youth to weathered faces: the rock abrasion tool (RAT). If your dermatologist hasn't heard of it, ask your local Mars scientist. Billions of years of exposure to the sun, atmosphere and extremely fine Martian dust has given Mars rocks a weathered "rind," or exterior layer. The RAT, part of the science-instrument package carried by the two Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, uses a diamond-tipped robotic grinding tool to scrape away this weathered exterior, revealing a fresh surface. (December 19, 2003)
PASADENA, Calif. -- After the twin Mars Exploration Rovers bounce onto the red planet and begin touring the Martian terrain in January, onboard spectrometers and cameras will gather data and images --- and the rovers' wheels will dig holes. Working together, a Cornell University planetary geologist and a civil engineer have found a way to use the wheels to study the Martian soil by digging the dirt with a spinning wheel. "It's nice to roll over geology, but every once in a while you have to pull out a shovel, dig a hole and find out what is really underneath your feet," says Robert Sullivan, senior research associate in space sciences and a planetary geology member of the Mars mission's science team. He devised the plan with Harry Stewart, Cornell associate professor of civil engineering, and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena. (December 19, 2003)
Steve Squyres and his colleagues on the Mars Exploration Rover science team rely heavily on the expertise of graduate students, who will work closely with them during the exploration of the Martian surface by the two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity.
An instrument aboard NASA's recently launched orbiting infrared observatory has found evidence of organic molecules in an enormously powerful galaxy some 3.25 billion light years from the Earth.
Nearly 99 percent alike in genetic makeup, chimpanzees and humans might be even more similar were it not for what researchers call "lifestyle" changes in the 6 million years that separate us from a common ancestor.
Maria Antonia Garcés, a professor in the Department of Romance Studies at Cornell, has been awarded the Modern Language Association's 34th James Russell Lowell Prize.
G. Peter Lepage has been appointed the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University, Cornell President Jeffrey Lehman announced today (Dec. 17). Lepage, former chair of the university's Department of Physics, had been serving as interim dean of the college since July 1, 2003. "Peter Lepage personifies the greatness of the College of Arts and Sciences. He is a true intellectual, a researcher whose work has deepened understanding of the fundamental structure of the material world," said Lehman. "He is a great educator, dedicated to the ideals of a liberal education. And he is a natural leader, a person whose generous spirit and determined vision have contributed to the ongoing progress of his department and the college itself." (December 17, 2003)
The Cornell Public Affairs Society (CPAS) launched a wide-scale computer donation campaign in the spring of 2003 to extend the benefits of the Internet to schools and related organizations in Africa. With 150 computers collected so far, CPAS continues to solicit donations from the community with the intention of sustaining this project for several years to come. The computers are destined for African nations, with an emphasis on institutions supporting women in schools, agricultural organizations and training centers, and health agencies. The computers collected to date already have been sent to Washington, D.C., for refurbishment and will be shipped to Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya and Mali in January 2004. (December 16, 2003)
N.Y. -- Hilton Als, theater critic for The New Yorker magazine, is the winner of the 2002-03 George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism. The award, which carries a $10,000 prize, is administered by the Cornell University Department of English and is one of the most generous and distinguished in the American theater. Als was selected by a committee consisting of the chairs of the English departments of Cornell, Princeton and Yale universities, assisted by experts on the theater from those universities. The Nathan committee citation reads: "Whether he's discussing the latest directorial interpretation of Gypsy, the formidable acting talent on display in Vincent in Brixton, or the Harlem Renaissance background of Langston Hughes's Little Ham, Hilton Als offers his audience a lively mix of information and opinion in a literate style that cannot help but contribute to intelligent play-going." (December 15, 2003)
Pinkham Notch, N.H., the starting point for many skiing and hiking trails on Mount Washington, has the best chance for a white Christmas in the Northeast – an all-but-guaranteed 96 percent. According to senior climatologist Keith Eggleston.
Cornell Professor C.C. Chu was browsing through Business Week in 1997 when he read about a cardiologist using radioactivity to reduce artery reblockage following angioplasty and stent surgery, a condition called restenosis.
