Jonathan Lunine, professor in the Physical Sciences at Cornell University, comments on the upcoming launch of the BepiColombo probes, a European-Japanese mission to Mercury. 

Arts and Sciences

---

On Monday, Thailand’s King Vajiralongkorn stripped his royal consort – Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi – of her official ranks for “repeated disobedience and attempts to of interference with royal affairs.” The palace order comes three months after Sineenat – rumored to be the king’s longtime mistress – was given the official title of royal consort. Tamara Loos, professor of history and Thai studies at Cornell University, says the move is a sign of the King’s newfound absolutism.

International

Arts and Sciences

---

Kristin Roebuck, professor of history at Cornell University, is a historian of modern Japan and says that procedures around Emperor Akihito’s abdication highlight the power of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to both preserve and modernize elements of the royal tradition. 

International

Law and Policy

Arts and Sciences

---

Dong Lai, professor of astronomy at Cornell University and an expert on black holes, comments on an upcoming "groundbreaking" announcement from astronomers on the Event Horizon Telescope team.

Arts and Sciences

Physical Sciences & Engineering

---

Lisa Kaltenegger, director of Cornell University’s Carl Sagan Institute, comments on the discovery of a tiny planet around a white dwarf star.

Arts and Sciences

Physical Sciences & Engineering

---

Alexandra Cirone, an expert on the spread of fake news and disinformation, and William Schmidt, an expert on operations, technology and information management, comment on the role of Facebook and Twitter in stemming the flow of misinformation online.

Arts and Sciences

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

---

Jonathan Lunine, director of the Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science at Cornell University, comments on NASA’s first mission to fly directly into our sun’s atmosphere.

Physical Sciences & Engineering

Arts and Sciences

---

Noliwe Rooks, professor of American studies at Cornell University and author of the book “Cutting School: Privatization, Segregation, and The End of Public Education,” comments on international school strikes, at which students from around the globe demand political action to combat climate change.

Arts and Sciences

Energy, Environment & Sustainability

Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future

---

Jonathan Lunine says the discovery of preserved organics on the Red Planet is a call for new tests directly targeting biosignatures on the Martian surface.

Arts and Sciences

---

Sarah Kreps, surveillance systems and cybersecurity expert, comments on the newly released Apple operating system that supports digital contact tracing.

Arts and Sciences

Cornell Tech

Computing & Information Sciences

---