research

Study Finds High Lead Levels in Christmas Lights

Willimina Bromer — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0500

When the weather drops and the lights go up, it’s a sign that Christmas is around the corner. But those engaging in the holiday light tradition should worry about more than just watching where they step while scaling the roof to hang the season emblems. According to one Cornell researcher, many light sets contain high levels of lead.

Prof. Joseph Laquatra, design and environmental analysis, headed the study, which found that some lead levels in Christmas light sets exceed limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development on floors and windowsills.

Study: People Use Face-to-Face Cues Online

Ben Eisen — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0500

All that time you spent on Facebook when you should have been studying may not be a waste after all. In a recent study, Prof. Jeff Hancock, communication, found that use of information on Facebook can be harnessed to gain influence and popularity amongst peers.

Hancock’s study paired participants who had not met each other over instant messenger. Some were asked to look at the opposite person’s Facebook profile before the conversation.

Those who looked at their partner’s Facebook beforehand were able to use the information obtained to ask questions and make themselves seem more similar to their partners. Hancock found that the more people used the information found out beforehand through Facebook, the higher likelihood that their partner would like them.

Study Examines Effects of Global Warming on Oceans

Steven Xu — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

No, the Gulf Steam is not coming to a stop, but major changes are taking place in the world’s oceans, according to the author of a recent Cornell study. Prof. Charles Greene, earth and atmospheric sciences, was the leading author of an oceanography study recently published in the journal Ecology.

The study examined trends in global climate and the major oceans surrounding North America.

Polar ice is part of a positive feedback loop that exacerbates climate changes. As temperature increases, ice melts. Since ice is white, Arctic melting decreases the reflectivity of the Earth. As a result, more solar radiation gets absorbed, further increasing temperatures and perpetuating the cycle. The opposite is true for temperature decreases.

Archaeologists Discover New Pyramid in Egypt

The Associated Press — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:18:12 -0500

SAQQARA, Egypt (AP) — Archaeologists have discovered a new pyramid under the sands of Saqqara, an ancient burial site that has yielded a string of unearthed pyramids in recent years but remains largely unexplored.

The 4,300-year-old monument most likely belonged to the queen mother of the founder of Egypt's 6th Dynasty, and was built several hundred years after the famed Great Pyramids of Giza, antiquities chief Zahi Hawass told reporters in announcing the find Tuesday.

The discovery is part of the sprawling necropolis and burial site of the rulers of ancient Memphis, the capital of Egypt's Old Kingdom, about 12 miles south of Giza.

All that remains of the pyramid is a 16-foot-tall structure that had been buried under 65 feet of sand.

Study: Levels of Precipitation May Increase Rate of Autism

Eve Waters — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Before deciding where to move after graduation, it might be a good idea to take a look at a new scientific study that suggests that there could be a correlation between higher levels of precipitation and increased incidences of autism in children.

The study, published in The American Medical Association Journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, hypothesizes that there is an environmental factor that influences the development of autism in genetically vulnerable children. The lead author of the study was Michael Waldman, the Charles H. Dyson Professor of Management and professor of economics at the Johnson School of Management.

Weill Hall Dedication

Christine Nelson — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:27:29 -0400

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Weill Hall Opens Doors to Serve Life Sciences

Abubakar Jalloh — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Faculty members, alumni and beneficiaries gathered yesterday evening to dedicate the Joan and Sanford ’55 Weill Hall and the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology.

Weill Hall — which cost $162 million to build and features state of the art equipment — will serve as the base for Cornell’s New Life Sciences Initiative and its Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology.

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“It would be a place where we tangibly support our efforts of sustainability. It would be a place where innovative ideas will be developed from the bench to the bedsides,” President David Skorton said at the ceremony.

Study Highlights Gender Inequality in the Workplace

Brian Karlovitz — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Overworked husbands push their wives out of the workforce, according to a study by Youngjoo Cha, a graduate student in Cornell’s department of sociology.

The study, presented Aug. 1st during a meeting of the American Sociological Association in Boston, was based on data from the 1996 Survey of Income and Program Participation, a longitudinal study managed by the U.S. Census Bureau. It was funded by a research grant from the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center.

C.U. and DEC Discover Whales By N.Y. Harbor

Jamie Meyerson — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Imagine looking out from the Statue of Liberty and seeing not only the New York City harbor, but also one of the most endangered mammals living today. We now know that this is a possibility, as researchers from the Bioacoustics Research Program at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) have, for the first time, recorded the presence of the northern right whale, along with four other species, in the water.

According to Chris Clark, the director of the Bioacoustics Research Program at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the study found the presence of sei whales, blue whales, minke whales, humpback whales and northern right whales in clusters by New York Harbor between JFK airport and New Jersey.

Profs Receive $25M Grant

Venus Wu — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Two Cornell professors won a $25 million grant for a new interdisciplinary scientific research and education center at Cornell, announced the Global Research Partnership of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology yesterday.

The KAUST-Cornell University Center for Research and Education will be co-led by Prof. Emmanuel Giannelis, materials science and engineering, and Prof. Lynden Archer, chemical and biolomolecular engineering, the Marjorie L. Hart Professor of Engineering. Giannelis and Archer’s proposal is selected as one of the four winners among the 41 initial applications submitted in late 2007.

Profs Granted $1 Million for Research

Jamie Meyerson — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The Hartwell Foundation — which provides funds for translational biomedical research aimed at helping children — recently issued three grants and a fellowship to Cornell researchers. These funds, totaling $1 million, make Cornell the first research university to receive three faculty grants simultaneously from the foundation.

Undergrads Present at C.U. Research Board Forum

Donial Dastgir — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Cornell is renowned for its various fields of research, which comes most prominently from the graduate community. However, as the spring undergraduate forum held by the Cornell University Research Board showcased last night, undergraduate research is also prevalent at C.U.

The forum featured presentations from undergraduates of all the colleges, each of whom had different motivations for being there.

Eric O’Hanon ’10, spoke about the danger of Bovine Growth Hormone, a hormone present in milk in American cows.

“I did this research for a class, and I figured this [forum] was the best way to present it to interested people,” he said, explaining his motivation for participating in the forum. “And, I just like talking to people,” he added

C.U. Researcher Critical of New HIV Treatment

Cara Sprunk — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

A Cornell medical researcher has been vindicated in his claim that a recently-released HIV vaccine would be unsuccessful after the drug was pulled last month from the market in South Africa.

Dr. Kendall A. Smith of Cornell Weill Medical College explained that the leading pharmaceutical company Merck’s vaccine went on to Stage II testing in South Africa because “the vaccine had no adverse affects in Stage I.”

Smith described that testing the effectiveness of this and all HIV vaccines is so difficult because there is no animal model for HIV. While doctors do test some vaccines on monkeys, because they have SIV (which affects simians as opposed to humans) it is difficult to find matching cures.

Weill Cornell Research Findings Link Nicotine, Atherosclerosis

Jamie Meyerson — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Nearly 70.3 million Americans over 12 years of age used tobacco at least once a month in 2004 according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. This statistic is of increasing concern, as findings recently published by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College linked nicotine and atherosclerosis.

Nicotine, the addictive ingredient found in tobacco, stimulates reward pathways and releases certain neurotransmitters in the brain, according to the NIDA. These events lead to feelings of pleasure which shortly dissipate, creating a powerful addiction.

Not only is nicotine highly addictive, but it also presents other serious health risks.