Science
Archived Stories
The Scientist: Geophysicist Larry Cathles Pursues Unconventional Energy Sources Through an Atypical Career Path
September 16th, 2009When 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. Read More
Searching Underground for a Greener Future
September 16th, 2009While 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. Read More
‘Reimagining’ Campaign Tackles the Life Sciences
September 9th, 2009In 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. Input from everyone is healthy, Kresovich said, especially the undergraduates. However, undergraduates will only be afforded that opportunity after the task forces have put out their first draft in Oct. Read More
Scientists Hurry to Create H1N1 Vaccine
September 9th, 2009Since the outbreak of swine flu earlier this year, scientists have been working to create a vaccine in preparation for what experts believe may be the virus’ peak this fall. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that an annual influenza vaccine takes approximately six months to prepare, creating an H1N1 vaccine presents some challenges that might prolong the preparation. According to Prof. Colin Parrish, virology, “The problem with the swine flu vaccine for this year is that the virus that they are growing to put into the vaccine does not grow very well, and therefore [it] is proving to be harder to make enough of it to make an effective vaccine.” Read More
The Scientist: Cliff Kraft
September 9th, 2009“I often see my work as an ecologist like that of a detective. You have incomplete pieces to a puzzle and you’re trying to put them together,” Kraft said of his current research. Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) are a popular sport fish and as a result have been introduced into lakes and water systems where they are not native. Cornell operates a field station on Little Moose Lake in the Adirondacks where this invasive species had significantly reduced the population of native predators and prey. Read More
Soil Testing Seminar Explores Limits of Plant Growth
September 9th, 2009A 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. Read More
New Horizons in Nanotech Could Jumpstart Solar Fuel Cell Technology
September 2nd, 2009For 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. Last Thursday, Dr. Greg Rohrer from Carnegie Melon University gave a talk to a group of graduate students and faculty on his research entitled “The dipolar field effect and photochemical reactions on titania/ferroelectric heterostructures.” The material sciences and engineering professor said that new advances in nanotechnology have made solar fuel cells a facet of renewable energy research that may have profound implications for the future of the renewable energy source. Read More
The Scientist: Susan McCouch
September 2nd, 2009McCouch believes that by studying the evolutionary past of rice, biologists may be able to better utilize naturally occurring genes during plant breeding. According to McCouch, growing populations and rising global temperatures create the need to adjust current agriculture practices. Through her research, McCouch contributes to a growing global effort to improve rice breeding techniques and increase rice crop yields. “The main issue is trying to grow rice with less nutrients and less water, but then increasing its productivity,” McCouch related. By mapping the genomes of the different rice varieties, McCouch identifies advantageous genes that scientists may select to breed into hybrid plants. These advantageous traits include size, aroma, yield, disease resistance and stress resistance. Through genetic engineering or artificial selection, biologists may breed superior rice plants that are capable of surviving in harsher, resource-strained conditions. Read More
Cornell Commemorates 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11
July 20th, 2009Apollo’s 40th anniversary speaks to the work still needed as much as it speaks to astronomy’s progress since 1969. As John F. Kennedy said in 1962, “despite the fact that this nation's own scientific manpower is doubling every 12 years in a rate of growth more than three times that of our population as a whole … the vast stretches of the unknown and the unanswered and the unfinished still far outstrip our collective comprehension.” Read More
Science: Major Affairs
July 18th, 2009Try 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. Read More