Cornell undergraduates put a modern face on ancient religions in the end-of-semester projects for the Myth and Religion in Mesopotamia course, taught by Jonathan Tenney, assistant professor of Near Eastern Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. Tenney asked his students to take a concept or myth they discussed in class and translate it into a modern, digital medium. The point, Tenney said,…
Physicist J.C. Séamus Davis, the James Gilbert White Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the College of Arts and Sciences, has received a $1.6 million five-year grant renewal from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation as part of the Emergent Phenomena in Quantum Systems (EPiQS) Initiative. Davis is one of 20 U.S. scientists receiving the grant to pursue innovative and risky research with a…
Tom Ruttledge, retired senior lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, in the College of Arts and Sciences, died May 19 in Ithaca. He was 55. “Tom Ruttledge was a long-standing educator and mentor for students of all stages at Cornell,” said Brian Crane, the George W. and Grace L. Todd Professor in Chemistry and department chair. “He was someone who truly cared about our…
In this time of increasing political polarization, the participation of scientists in political advocacy has become yet another flashpoint, with some critics accusing scientists of being self-serving if they advocate for increased science funding. A new study offers empirical evidence demonstrating that scientists who have received federal science funding are no more likely to engage in…
The monumental scroll stretches nearly 60 yards around the Bartels Gallery in the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art – an immersive calligraphy experience by Tong Yang-Tze, one of Taiwan’s foremost calligraphers working today. The scroll’s subject – and title – is “Immortal at the River,” referencing a poem by 16th century Chinese poet Yang Shen. The exhibition, which opened Feb. 1 and can be…
When Michael Fontaine began translating the Latin poem “How to Drink: A Classical Guide to the Art of Imbibing” by Vincent Obsopoeus, he could not have known it would be published in the middle of a pandemic. Ironically, much of the advice offered in this 500 year-old text seems eerily appropriate to this time of social distancing -- Obsopoeus tells readers that the best way to drink is at home. …
For hospitalized patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, staying connected to their loved ones has been difficult, if not impossible.To help stop the spread of the coronavirus, visitation has been severely restricted, leaving patients often feeling alone and frightened and families unable to see and support them. In response, two Cornell professors have organized a project to bring computer…
Shoot a rifle, and the recoil might knock you backward. Merge two black holes in a binary system, and the loss of momentum gives a similar recoil -- a “kick” -- to the merged black hole.
“For some binaries, the kick can reach up to 5000 kilometers a second, which is larger than the escape velocity of most galaxies,” said Vijay Varma, an astrophysicist at the California Institute of Technology…
As a child, Ray Jayawardhana walked the Sri Lankan night with his father, marveling at the glory of the stars twinkling above them – and wondering.That experience inspired Jayawardhana – now the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and a professor of astronomy – to become an astrophysicist, one who cares deeply about sharing with others the sense of wonder that motivates him…
Forty years after Cornell astronomer Carl Sagan first introduced the world to the wonders of science through his “Cosmos” television series, a new season of thought-provoking scientific adventures will air on the National Geographic Channel, beginning March 9. All but one of the science advisers for the acclaimed series are Cornell faculty.
The five Cornell “Cosmos” advisers are…
This lecture has been cancelled.Leftover radiation from the Big Bang – the cosmic microwave background (CMB) – carries clues about the fundamental nature of the universe, which was only 400,000 years old when the CMB was released.Nearly 14 billion years later, scientists are using the Atacama Cosmology Telescope to uncover the CMB’s dynamics and ingredients, providing insights into its history…
This month marks the third anniversary of the discovery of a remarkable system of seven planets known as TRAPPIST-1. These rocky, Earth-size worlds orbit an ultra-cool star 39 light-years from Earth; 1 light-year is approximately 5.88 trillion miles.
Three of the planets are in the “habitable zone,” meaning they are at the right orbital distance to be warm enough for liquid water to exist on…
Chemistry professor Geoffrey W. Coates has received the 2020 Gustavus John Esselen Award for Chemistry in the Public Interest from the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical SocietyThe award, which honors outstanding achievement and contributions to the public good, will be presented April 16 in a ceremony at Harvard University. At the ceremony, Coates will deliver a public lecture, “In…
As a young child in World War II Poland, Nobel Prize-winning chemist Roald Hoffmann and members of his family spent 15 months hiding in an attic, kept safe from the Nazis by a Ukrainian couple who risked their own three small children to do so.Hoffmann’s life was spared, thanks to the courage and kindness of others.“Wars create an environment where choices for good are hard to make,” said…
Soraya Nadia McDonald, cultural critic for The Undefeated, a website that explores the intersection of race, sports and culture, has been named winner of the 2019-20 George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism.The award committee cited the “ambitious reach and bracing common-sense of her criticism” in selecting McDonald for this year’s award. The committee comprises the heads of the English…
“ZIP Codes Matter,” a new episode of the “What Makes Us Human?” podcast series, shows how inequality can be tracked across America simply by looking at ZIP codes. The podcast’s fifth season – “What Do We Know about Inequality?” – showcases the newest thinking across academic disciplines about inequality.“Where we live matters. And research shows that it matters most for children, the poor and the…
“Pugna Porcorum” (“The Pig War”) might just be the strangest poem in all of Latin literature.Each word of the satirical, pun-filled, 248-verse epic, first published in 1530, begins with the letter “p.” The poem describes a conflict between corrupt porcine creatures who are “hogging” all the privileges and the piglets who want their share. Said conflict soon descends into outright war.In the first…
“Segregated Education,” a new episode of the “What Makes Us Human?” podcast series, explains the history of educational inequities in the U.S. The podcast’s fifth season – “What Do We Know about Inequality?” – showcases the newest thinking across academic disciplines about inequality.“Our education system owes everything to the Civil War-era freedoms gained by African Americans,” says Noliwe…
“Climate of Fear,” the latest episode in the “What Makes Us Human?” podcast series, explores the impact of incarcerated parents on their children’s education. The podcast’s fifth season – “What Do We Know about Inequality?” – showcases the newest thinking across academic disciplines about inequality.“The number of school-aged children in the United States with currently or formerly incarcerated…
“Lived Experience,” a new episode of the “What Makes Us Human?” podcast series, explores global racial hierarchies and their remedies. The podcast’s fifth season – “What Do We Know about Inequality?” – showcases the newest thinking across academic disciplines about inequality.“Cultural resilience is the spine of the black experience, the supportive apparatus that allows resistance to the…
“Workplace Rankings,” a new episode of the “What Makes Us Human?” podcast series, explores power and status in the workplace. The podcast’s fifth season – “What Do We Know about Inequality?” – showcases the newest thinking across academic disciplines about inequality.“I have found that our rankings of workers don’t correlate closely with their actual performance,” says Jamie Lyn Perry, assistant…
A dozen previously unreleased songs by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame artist Lou Reed have been discovered on one side of a cassette tape from 1975, currently stored in the archives of the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. The songs are based on Warhol’s book, “The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again).”“It sounds like he recorded them in his apartment with an open air microphone,…
“Unequal Parenting,” a new episode of the “What Makes Us Human?” podcast series, examines persistent inequalities in parenting and the earnings penalties that go along with them. The podcast’s fifth season – “What Do We Know about Inequality?” – showcases the newest thinking across academic disciplines about inequality.
“Women’s earnings fall relative to their partners’ after having a…
“Health Inequities,” a new episode of the “What Makes Us Human” podcast series, explores how “sociological” storytelling can change health outcomes. The podcast’s fifth season -- "What Do We Know about Inequality?" -- showcases the newest thinking across academic disciplines about inequality.“My work has sought to identify specific strategies that both convey fundamental causes of health…
Image: Students in Stephen Vider’s “Introduction to Public History” course visit the Johnson Museum of ArtA new Public History Initiative (PHI) launched this fall at Cornell with two new courses and a lecture series. The initiative is directed by Stephen Vider, assistant professor of history in the College of Arts & Sciences, who came to Cornell as part of CIVIC (Critical Inquiry into Values,…
The molecules of life are twisted. But how those familiar strands in DNA’s double helix manage to replicate without being tangled up has been hard to decipher. A new perspective from Cornell physicists is helping unravel the mystery.Researchers approached the problem from a topological perspective, asking what impact the helix shape itself has on DNA replication. Using eukaryotes – which comprise…
“Climate Refugees,” a new episode of the “What Makes Us Human” podcast series, examines how climate change causes economic and political upheaval. The podcast’s fifth season -- "What Do We Know about Inequality?" -- showcases the newest thinking across academic disciplines about inequality.“Climate change is a threat multiplier: it increases the likelihood of sectarian violence, political…
“Unequal Representation,” a new episode of the “What Makes Us Human” podcast series, examines how Indigenous stories are misrepresented by the media. The podcast’s fifth season -- "What Do We Know about Inequality?" -- showcases the newest thinking across academic disciplines about inequality.“There are so many untold stories, so many missed opportunities to describe the richness of Native…
“Unequal Happiness,” a new episode of the “What Makes Us Human” podcast series, examines the impact of inequality on psychological well-being. The podcast’s fifth season -- "What Do We Know About Inequality?" -- showcases the newest thinking across academic disciplines about inequality.“Research shows that when the distribution of wealth varies more and more, so does the tendency to compare…
What do we know about inequality – and what can be done about it? These questions and more will be explored in the new season of the “What Makes Us Human?” podcast and essay series.Produced by the College of Arts & Sciences in collaboration with Cornell Broadcast Studios, the short audio essays feature Cornell faculty across academic disciplines discussing explore how recent research helps us…
Poetry and performance – as well as more traditional presentations – comprised the first Rural Humanities Showcase, held Sept. 6 in the A.D. White House. The nine projects represented Cornell faculty engagement, teaching, and research around “rural humanities,” which uses the tools of the humanities to both address the rural-urban divide and the realities of rural America, particularly in Central…
Of course, grocers have long known how to pack equal-sized spheres: Witness how they stack oranges. But what about other shapes? The fall Hans Bethe Lecture will explore how we study all manners of packing.Paul Chaikin, professor of physics at New York University, will give a talk, “How Many M&M’s in That Jar? Particle Packings, Frustration and Why Things Crystallize,” Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in…
Princeton classics professor Barbara Graziosi will deliver the three-part Townsend Lectures on the theme of “Homecoming and Homemaking in the Ancient Mediterranean.” The lectures will begin at 4:30 p.m. in 165 McGraw Hall. The talks are free and the public is invited.Although focused on the ancient Mediterranean, the lectures, said Graziosi, “take their cue from the present moment, asking what it…
The PBS documentary series “The Future of America’s Past” features Elissa Sampson, lecturer in the Jewish Studies Program, in the episode about New York City’s Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, “The Fire of a Movement.”Sampson speaks with historian Ed Ayers at the site of the 1911 fire, the former Asch Building, now part of New York University's campus. They discuss what happened during the fire…
The Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards celebrated a new space for its instrument collection at 726 University Ave. with “New Meets Old: Collaborative Confrontations,” a festival Sept. 6-7, presented by the Department of Music in the College of Arts and Sciences.The space will provide a rotating home for some of the center’s concert-ready keyboard instruments. With emeritus professor Malcolm…
Babies develop slowly and must learn pretty much everything from scratch, including how to ask for what they need. But babies are not quite as helpless as they seem, especially when it comes to language.New research from Cornell’s Behavioral Analysis of Beginning Years (B.A.B.Y.) Laboratory reveals that baby babbling elicits profound changes in adult speech. Adults unconsciously modify their…
The online application portal for the inaugural Klarman Fellowships has now opened, with a deadline of Oct. 15.The Klarman Fellowships are expected to be among the most coveted in the country, providing postdoctoral opportunities to early-career scholars of outstanding talent, initiative and promise. Fellows receive generous salaries, benefits and research support; with independence from the…
George Hutchinson’s book, “Facing the Abyss,” has been shortlisted for the Christian Gauss Award of 2019, one of the major prizes for literary scholarship in any field. The Phi Beta Kappa Society, which confers the award, will announce the winning titles on October 1.Hutchinson previously won the award in 2007, for his book “In Search of Nella Larsen: A Biography of the Color Line.” The inaugural…
NSF funds two discipline-based education research projectsThe National Science Foundation has funded two discipline-based education research (DBER) projects in the College of Arts & Sciences, contributing to Cornell’s growing DBER profile. Both grants are about $300,000 and three years in length.The first project, “Equity in Undergraduate Physics Labs,” builds on work originally funded by the…
The Riemann hypothesis -- an unsolved problem in pure mathematics – is one of the seven Millennium Prize Problems, with a $1 million prize to the person who solves it. But that’s not why it fascinates mathematical physicist Andre’ LeClair, for whom this is perhaps the most important open question in mathematics. He illustrates the hypothesis’ importance to number theory with a well-known…
A new study demonstrates that increasing class size has the largest negative impact on female participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) classrooms, and offers insights on ways to change the trend.Using data obtained from 44 science courses across multiple institutions – including Cornell, the University of Minnesota, Bethel University and American University in…
Martha P. Haynes, the Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy, has been awarded the 2019 Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.The medal is presented annually to a professional astronomer in recognition of a lifetime of outstanding achievement and contributions to astrophysics research. Previous Cornell recipients of the Bruce Medal include Edwin Salpeter …
Cornell will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing with an afternoon of discussion about the future of planetary and exoplanetary discovery. “From the Moon to Mars and Beyond” will take place on July 20, the actual anniversary of astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descending from the Eagle spacecraft onto the lunar surface. The event will feature two talks and a…
Cornell has been selected as one of 14 U.S.-based host institutions for the 51 Pegasi b Postdoctoral Fellowship in Planetary Astronomy. The fellowship, supported by the Heising-Simons Foundation, provides up to eight postdoctoral scientists per year up to $375,000 of support for independent research over three years. The fellowship includes mentorship, an annual summit, and the opportunity to…
Travelers to Reunion were introduced to the origins and evolutions of travel photography by Andrew Moisey, assistant professor of the history of art and visual studies, in a June 6 talk, “Forever Your Journey: Capturing the Experience of Faraway Places, 1700-1900,” in Goldwin Smith Hall’s Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium.
Gerald Beasley, university librarian, introduced the talk, which was…
As antibiotic resistance rises, the search for new antibiotic strategies has become imperative. In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control estimated that antibiotic resistant bacteria cause at least 2 million infections and 23,000 deaths a year in the U.S.; a recent report raised the likely mortality rate to 162,044.New Cornell research on an enzyme in bacteria essential to making DNA offers a new…
The Cornell community is invited to celebrate the retirement of Henry Crans, director of facilities for the College of Arts and Sciences, after 50 years at Cornell. The drop-in reception will be on Tuesday, June 25, 1-4 pm in the Groos Family Atrium in Klarman Hall.A stone in Henry Crans’ office sits emblazoned with the date 6/30/19, fifty years from the day he began working at Cornell.In 1969 he…
Adorned with feathers, strings of (faux) pearls and false mustaches, College of Arts & Sciences staff celebrated the end of the year with a “Great Gatsby”-themed picnic on the Arts Quad. Dave Taylor, associate dean of administration, (dressed for the occasion in a natty 3-piece suit and hat) welcomed the 400-plus revelers. He encouraged them to waste no time in putting their tickets in for…
Brightly colored crocheted hyperbolic planes spread across tables in the Mathematics Library, welcoming alumni and their families to a talk with Daina Taimina on her signature method of tactile exploration of hyperbolic geometry and the new second edition of her book, “Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes: Tactile Mathematics, Art and Craft for All to Explore.”Invented as a teaching…
Ghosts, sacrifices, visions –Seneca’s ancient tale of the aftermath of the fall of Troy, “Troades” (“The Trojan Women”), is a Roman tragedy in the grand tradition. In April, 24 Cornell classics students staged the play in the original Latin (with English supertitles), demonstrating both the power of Seneca’s language and the vigor of Cornell’s living Latin program.
When he…
