Dr. Michael Latham, professor emeritus of nutritional sciences at Cornell who directed the Cornell Program in International Nutrition for 25 years, died April 1 of pneumonia at age 82. (April 13, 2011)
Behind every famous web site, from Amazon to Priceline, is a common-sense idea that somehow no one thought of before. The genius behind the Legal Information Institute (LII), Cornell's most-accessed web site, is that its authors correctly guessed there were millions of people out there who needed to know U.S. laws and court decisions.
The International Linear Collider is garnering key design insights from Cornell scientists, who are reconfiguring Cornell's electron storage ring into a major ILC component called a damping ring. (Aug. 25, 2009)
Campaigns are not just about raising a lot of money -- they are about raising a lot of money for specific academic priorities. That is a major lesson learned from Cornell's last record-setting $1.5 billion campaign, 1990-95.
Using a novel technique, supported largely by off-the-shelf instruments, scientists at Cornell University have for the first time optically isolated individual biological molecules in naturally occurring molecular concentrations and watched their complex behavior as they interact with a protein. The technique, made possible by the ability of nanofabrication to produce a microchip with light-impeding holes with a diameter one-tenth of the wavelength of light, could promise a new method of DNA sequencing by which the genetic code can be "read" from a single DNA molecule. (January 29, 2003)
SEATTLE -- You know those squishy childrenÕs toys with elasticized bands connecting sticks that bounce back to shape when crushed? It takes some complicated mathematics to figure out how to make such structures. "You need a calculation that will guarantee the stability of the structure," said Robert Connelly, professor and chair of Cornell UniversityÕs mathematics department. "You can find a whole class of these things. If you satisfy the stability condition, then you can build it, and it will always hold its shape." The structures are called tensegrities -- for tension with integrity -- that form interesting geometric shapes, like dodecahedra (made from 12 regular pentagons). Connelly, who builds such toys based on these principles, described them to an audience at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science today (Feb. 14) in Seattle.
Nursing staff and family members of residents in nursing homes often distrust and misunderstand each other, feel powerless to improve communication and feel distressed by the situation, according to a Cornell study.
Akua Kuenyehia, the first vice president of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, discussed the challenge of indictment and prosecution of gender crimes during a Law School workshop, April 28. (May 1, 2008)
Rebel Þghters blow up a Death Star in Return of the Jedi. Jack's beanstalk grows taller and taller, allowing him to climb to the giant's kingdom in the clouds. But what is the likelihood that an exploding star would result in the bright ßash and loud roar of destruction that George Lucas' audience sees and hears on the screen? How high can a beanstalk really grow and still support its own weight? Science fantasy? Not to three Cornell University academics -- Alan Giambattista, Betty Richardson and her husband, Robert. They pose the questions in their recently published textbook, College Physics (McGraw Hill, 2004). Their intent is to draw readers into the text and to help explain difficult physics concepts for pre-med students and others not planning to further their education in the subject. (April 18, 2003)
The Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell has developed a special program designed to repay up to $25,000 of student loan debt as a way of helping its MBA graduates pursue entrepreneurial ventures straight out of school.