Scientists have discovered compounds nearly ubiquitous in fire that have amazingly eluded detection in spite of 150 years of research on how flames burn. According to a paper in the journal Science on its Science Express Web site (May 12), co-authored by a Cornell professor, enols, technically in the family of alcohols, are part of the chemical pathway that occurs when a wide variety of fires burn.
An "information superhighway" inside plant cells allows chloroplasts -- the minuscule green bodies that carry out photosynthesis inside cells -- to communicate directly with each other, Cornell scientists have found.
Cornell researchers, using non-linear laser-microscope technology developed at Cornell, have produced images displaying the neurotransmitter serotonin in live cells in real time, and they have for the first time measured the concentration of serotonin in secretory granules.
Cornell researchers have come up with nanoscale resonators -- tiny vibrating strings -- with the highest quality factor so far obtainable at room temperature for devices so small.
By using a device only six-millionths of a meter long, researchers at Cornell University have been able to detect the presence of as few as a half-dozen viruses -- and they believe the device is sensitive enough to notice just one. The research could lead to simple detectors capable of differentiating between a wide variety of pathogens, including viruses, bacteria and toxic organic chemicals. (November 4, 2004)
A new, essentially inexhaustible source of energy for the 21st century may result from experiments under way at Cornell University's Laboratory for Plasma Studies.
The world's smallest guitar — carved out of crystalline silicon and no larger than a single cell — has been made at Cornell University to demonstrate a new technology that could have a variety of uses in fiber optics, displays, sensors and electronics.
The Materials Science Center (MSC) at Cornell University has received funding for another five years, topping the list of institutions that were funded by the National Science Foundation as centers of materials research.
Move over, quantum dots. Make way for the new kids on the block -- brightly glowing nanoparticles dubbed "Cornell dots." By surrounding fluorescent dyes with a protective silica shell, researchers have created fluorescent nanoparticles with possible applications in displays, biological imaging, optical computing, sensors and microarrays such as DNA chips. (May 19, 2005)
The Ward Laboratory at Cornell, which houses a small-scale nuclear reactor for research and teaching, is now the Ward Center for Nuclear Sciences, a campuswide center.
