Cornell researchers are playing an important role in yet another planetary space mission, this time to Saturn, the second largest planet in the solar system. On June 30 at approximately 10:30 p.m. EDT, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft will go into orbit around Saturn for an extensive tour.
Kristine M. DeLuca-Beach has been named director of the Cornell University office of the Cornell Commitment, which encompasses three universitywide undergraduate recognition programs. She has been acting director, and her position as director becomes effective immediately. "Kris brings considerable direct experience to this role, having served as acting director for the past eight months," says Susan H. Murphy, Cornell vice president for student and academic services. "Her dedication to students is long standing and she brings a professional expertise that will benefit all of the programs within the Cornell Commitment. Her long association with the university provides her with many strong connections across the campus and among alumni. We are fortunate to have her leadership." (June 29, 2004)
Crows, starlings and street pigeons aren't the only feathered denizens of American cities, children will learn when they participate as "citizen scientists" in a new annual event from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
The viburnum leaf beetle is eating itself out of house and home in central, western and northern New York state and elsewhere, says Cornell entomologist E. Richard Hoebeke. After devastating large swaths of native viburnum as well as ornamental species in its larval stage this spring, the adult beetle.
A laser-based microscopy technique may have settled a long-standing debate among neuroscientists about how brain cells process energy -- while explaining what's really happening in PET (positron emission tomography) imaging and offering a better way to observe the damage that strokes and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, wreak on brain cells.
Saturn's mysterious moon, Phoebe, which has puzzled astronomers for more than a century because of its dark surface and retrograde orbit, has great geological variety, and probably has large areas of exposed water ice, Cornell senior astronomy researcher Peter Thomas told a press conference at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Thomas "Tommy" Gold, a brilliant and controversial figure in 20th century science and professor emeritus of astronomy at Cornell, died June 22 at Cayuga Medical Center, Ithaca, N.Y., after a long battle with heart disease. He was 84 years of age.
The Fiber Society will hold its annual meeting and technical conference, with a symposium on advanced materials and processes for fibers and fibrous structures at Cornell University, Oct. 11-13. This international gathering of professionals dedicated to research in science, technology and engineering of fibers will be hosted by the Department of Textiles and Apparel in Cornell's College of Human Ecology. The Fiber Society is a nonprofit professional and scientific association focused on advancing scientific knowledge pertaining to fibers, fiber-based products and fibrous materials. Keynote speakers at this year's conference will include: Professor Howard Greisler of Loyola University, a leading researcher in the vascular application of fibrous materials; Nobel Laureate Robert C. Richardson, Cornell vice provost of research and the F.R. Newman Professor of Physics; and Nobel Laureate and chemist Roald Hoffmann, the Frank H.T. Rhodes Professor in Humane Letters at Cornell. (June 21, 2004)
The Cornell University group that advocates for people with disabilities in the workplace has more staff, renovated headquarters and a new name -- the Employment and Disability Institute (EDI). The institute's mission remains the same, however: to provide research, training materials, programs and technical assistance that make it easier for people with disabilities to be integrated in the workplace, schools and communities. (June 22, 2004)
Physicians who prescribe the regular use of beta-agonist drugs for asthma could be endangering their patients, two new studies by researchers at Cornell and Stanford universities find. One study compiles previously published clinical trials to conclude that patients could both develop a tolerance for beta-agonists and be at increased risk for asthma attacks, compared with those who do not use the drug at all. The second study shows that beta-agonist use increases cardiac risks, such as heart attacks, by more than two-fold, compared with the use of a placebo. Furthermore, the researchers say that their analyses lead them to suspect a conflict of interest among scientists who are supported by pharmaceutical companies that make beta-agonists, among the world's most widely used drugs. This conflict, they say, could be putting 16 million U.S. asthma sufferers in harm's way. Their statement comes as the American Medical Association is voicing its concerns that drug industry sponsorship of clinical tests is affecting the quality of research. (June 17, 2004)