Science

The Scientist: Larry Cathles

Jing Jin  —  Sep 16, 2009

When every other Princeton senior sat before a typewriter ready to compose their senior thesis, Larry Cathles stood in front of a big tub and poured in five pounds of silicone bouncing putty to simulate the effect of glacial rebound.

Searching Underground for a Greener Future

Virginia Li  —  Sep 16, 2009

While many say a large scale transition from burning fossil fuels to renewable energy sources is the ideal approach to achieving climate neutrality, scientists and engineers are exploring the possibility of carbon capture and storage as a temporary solution.

CCS technology is targeted towards fossil-fuel burning power plants, which make the most significant contribution to human CO2 emissions. The concept involves three basic steps: capture, transport and storage. First, engineers trap the CO2, separating it from other waste gases at the power plant and compressing into a liquid state. They then pump it through a pipeline underground or deep into the ocean, where it is no longer directly exposed to the atmosphere.

‘Reimagining’ Campaign Tackles the Life Sciences

Abubakar Jalloh  —  Sep 9, 2009

In response to the recent economic downturn, President David Skorton and Provost Kent Fuchs set up eight different task forces, under the umbrella title “Reimagining Cornell,” to tackle Cornell’s budget crisis from different perspectives. One of them was the Life Sciences Task Force, chaired by Dean of Life Sciences Steven Kresovich. Among other things, the Life Science Task Force is charged with identifying thriving and struggling disciplines within the division, suggesting mergers or closures of some units while finding ways to minimize the budgetary constraints.

Scientists Hurry to Create H1N1 Vaccine

Maria Minsker  —  Sep 9, 2009

With flu season fast approaching, the National Vaccine Program Office in the Department of Health and Human Services is increasing their efforts to develop a vaccine for H1N1 influenza, better known as swine flu, by October. But experts have expressed concerns that the viral strain needed to produce the vaccine isn’t replicating fast enough for mass production. There is also concern about potential side effects.

The Scientist: Cliff Kraft

Adam Woodward  —  Sep 9, 2009

Sometimes untangling the complex web of ecological causes and effects brought on by invasive species can look a lot like a classic case of whodunit. Prof. Clifford E. Kraft, natural resources, collaborates with Cornell’s cooperative extension. His work removing smallmouth bass from a lake in the Adirondacks has given him a unique window into the mystery of restoring biodiversity where ecological villains have run amok.

Soil Testing Seminar Explores Limits of Plant Growth

A. Drew Muscente  —  Sep 9, 2009

A seed, some dirt, some light, some water and a lot of love — these are the traditional ingredients. However, it’s not so easy to grow a plant and according to Prof. Murray Brian McBride, crop and soil sciences, not all soil is created equally.

On Sep. 3, in a seminar entitled “Soil Testing for Copper and Other Trace Metals: The Challenge of Estimating Bioavailability and Toxicity,” McBride addressed a crowd of botanists and chemists in Emerson 135, proposing a new strategy in soil analysis.

“The question is, what total soil concentration of toxic metals is tolerable?” McBride asked.

New Horizons in Nanotech Could Jumpstart Solar Fuel Cell Technology

Adam Woodward  —  Sep 2, 2009

For all the advances in solar power technology over the last century, the dark shrouds of night and overcast skies still loom ominously over mankind’s hopes to run continuously off the abundant energy of the sun. Over 120,000 terawatts of power are delivered each day to the Earth — roughly ten thousand times what humankind needs to power its activities. Even in the world’s sunniest place, Yuma, Arizona — where the sun is out 94% percent of the time, or 4,127 hours a year — photovoltaic cells are still useless 4,633 hours a year.

The Scientist: Susan McCouch

A. Drew Muscente  —  Sep 2, 2009

Italian culture boils it into risotto. Cajun culture sautés it into Jambalaya. Japanese culture wraps it around fish and serves it as sushi. As Prof. Susan McCouch, plant breeding and genetics, recognizes, it seems like every culture has its own recipes and preferences for rice. By tracing the past movement of human trade and analyzing the genetic variability of rice subgroups, McCouch hopes to identify genes that may improve the future of agriculture.

“We’re looking at thousands of genetic samples from thousands of varieties of rice from around the world,” McCouch explained. “We help to map diversity across the genome.”

Cornell Commemorates 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11

Jade Tabony  —  Jul 20, 2009

A common childhood dream is that of becoming an astronaut and exploring the distant realms of space, a place far from the reach of common human grasp. On July 16th, 1969, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched Apollo 11 — the mission that would prove those dreams possible.

40 years later, Cornell’s department of astronomy remembered the excitement of the events that occurred and the scientific discoveries that were made. The events included a discussion panel lead by some of Cornell’s distinguished astronomy professors and activities for kids and families after the talk.

Science: Major Affairs

Jul 19, 2009

Try to imagine building a house without a blueprint. Or cell biology without a quantitative knowledge of cell potential — the mechanism that describes how water and ions pass in and out of our cells. Envision population genetics without the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium model — the basic mathematical model that allows scientists to estimate the relative frequencies of phenotypes within a population. Today, understanding biology without mathematics is almost inconceivable.

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