Life Sciences News

• Got bird questions? New book has the answers | Cornell Chronicle feature | 11/11/2009 Chronicle feature
  
  Drawing on puzzlers she has fielded over a lifetime of bird study, Cornell Lab science editor Laura Erickson has compiled answers to more than 200 bird questions in "The Bird Watching Answer Book".
• Resonating feathers produce courtship song in rare bird, researchers report | Cornell Chronicle feature | 11/11/2009 Chronicle feature
  
  Researchers have proven that the club-winged manakin's feathers resonate at a particular frequency to create a tone. The adaptation is a striking example of a species modifying an essential body part for the purpose of attracting a mate.
• Cornell releases predator beetle to battle hemlock pest | Cornell Chronicle feature | 11/10/2009 Chronicle Feature
  
  To battle the hemlock-killing Laricobius nigrinus beetles, a team of entomologists has released one of the adelgids' natural predators as a local case study.
• Cornell researchers identify weak link in cancer cell armor | Cornell Chronicle feature | 11/10/2009 Chronicle Feature
  
  It has long been known that the so-called p53 gene suppresses tumors, but new research at the College of Veterinary Medicine shows that inhibiting a second gene (Hus1) is lethal to cells with p53 mutations.
• Many patients lack the numerical skills to make good health decisions, study finds | Cornell Chronicle feature | 11/09/2009 Chronicle Feature
  
  Valerie Reyna is the lead author of a paper published in the November issue of Psychological Bulletin that reviews the research on so called "health numeracy," the ability to understand and use numerical information related to medical outcomes.
• New CALS option teaches biology for the real world | Cornell Chronicle feature | 11/09/2009 Chronicle Feature
  
  CALS students in non-life science majors can partially meet their life sciences distribution requirements without taking a two-semester introductory biology survey course.
• Researchers find reliable, mess-free way to grow graphene | Cornell Chronicle feature | 11/09/2009 Chronicle Feature
  
  Single layers of carbon atoms, called graphene sheets, are lightweight, strong, electrically semi-conducting , and a Cornell research team has invented a simple way to make graphene electrical devices by growing the graphene directly onto a silicon wafer.
• Nitrogen loss threatens desert plant life, study shows | Cornell Chronicle feature | 11/05/2009 Chronicle feature
  
  Professor Jed Sparks and lead author Carmody McCalley, a graduate student, warn that temperature increases and shifting precipitation patterns due to climate change may lead to further nitrogen losses in arid ecosystems.
• Cornell researcher uses stimulus money to study spinal cord injury recovery | Cornell Chronicle feature | 11/04/2009 Chronicle feature
  
  With a grant of almost $700,000 from the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Ronald Harris-Warrick hopes to find ways for spinal cord injury victims to get back on their feet by studying the neural networks for locomotion in rodents.
• Half of U.S. children -- and most black children -- will use food stamps, Cornell study reports | Cornell Chronicle feature | 11/03/2009 Chronicle feature
  
  Food stamps are important indicators of poverty and risk of food insecurity, "two of the most detrimental economic conditions affecting a child's health," says Cornell Professor Thomas A. Hirschl.
• Library collaboration with China strengthens scholarship | Cornell Chronicle feature | 11/03/2009 Chronicle feature
  
  Cornell University Library and Tsinghua University Library in China cemented a formal collaboration during an Oct. 29, 2009 ceremony on Cornell's campus.
• 'Temporal telescope' compresses optical signals | Cornell Chronicle feature | 11/03/2009 Chronicle feature
  
  Cornell researchers have developed an ingenious method to time-compress optical signals. The process could enable optical communication systems to carry many more bits per second.
• Cornell receives nearly $850,000 to improve specialty crops | Cornell Chronicle feature | 11/02/2009 Chronicle feature
  
  CALS researchers aim to arm farmers with blight-resistant varieties and crop management strategies to beat Phytophthora blight, as well as other issues that affect specialty crops.
• Cornell team investigates how to starve tumors | Cornell Chronicle feature | 11/02/2009 Chronicle feature
  
  Cornell researchers will create tiny 3-D models of tumors to mimic conditions necessary for tumor angiogenesis -- the development of vascular systems by tumors.
• Web site will link Latin American researchers with opportunities | Cornell Chronicle feature | 11/02/2009 Chronicle feature
  CienciAmérica (Science of the Americas), a new Web site where Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking scientists can interact, will be developed and hosted at Galileo University in Guatemala, with material collected and formatted at Cornell.
• Battling cancer with engineering: National Cancer Institute funds Cornell-led $13 million research center | Cornell Chronicle feature | 10/27/2009 Chronicle feature
  The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has funded the Center on the Microenvironment and Metastasis, which will be headquartered at Cornell. The center will focus on using nanobiotechnology and other related physical science approaches to advance research.
• Being a doctor can be 'really disgusting,' but rewards are unsurpassable, says Weill neurosurgeon | Cornell Chronicle feature | 10/27/09 Chronicle feature
  
  Dr. Michael Kaplitt has developed a new technique to reduce symptoms of Parkinson's disease that involves injecting a gene-laden virus into the part of the brain responsible for dopamine production.
• Cornell Plantations breaks ground on its welcome center | Cornell Chronicle feature | 10/27/2009 Chronicle feature
  
  The sustainably designed Cornell Plantations Brian C. Nevin Welcome Center is is built into Comstock Knoll at the Mullestein Winter garden and will be completed in 2010.
• Cornell's VIVO concept will expand to connect researchers nationwide | Cornell Chronicle feature | 10/27/2009 Chronicle feature
  A $12.2 million, two-year grant from the NIH's National Center for Research Resources will support the creation of VIVOweb, a multi-institutional version of Cornell Library's VIVO that will connect biomedical researchers to foster alliances.
• Crash, bang, rumble! Bringing noise to virtual worlds | Cornell Chronicle feature | 10/27/2009 Chronicle feature
  
  Cornell computer scientists Doug James and graduate students Jeffrey Chadwick and Steven An have developed a practical method to generate the crashing and rumbling sounds of objects made up of thin "harmonic shells."
• Jonathan Butcher delivers young investigator lecture | Cornell Chronicle feature | 10/27/2009 Chronicle feature
  
  Butcher was invited to give the Rita Schaffer Memorial Lectureduring the BMES 2009 annual meeting in Pittsburgh, Oct. 7-10. Butcher talked about engineering breakthroughs that could complement genetic programs for combating cardiovascular disease.
• New center to bring CU agricultural innovations to China | Cornell Chronicle feature | 10/27/2009 Chronicle feature
  
  A Sept. 24 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Cornell and the Department of Science and Education of China's Ministry of Agriculture facilitated the creation of the Sino-U.S. Ray Wu Agricultural Technology Innovation Center at Cornell.
• Pinstrup-Andersen named No. 1 Dane for fighting poverty | Cornell Chronicle feature | 10/27/2009 Chronicle feature
  Per Pinstrup-Andersen has been named "the most important Dane in the world" in combating poverty in developing countries by an independent panel for Udvikling (Development), Denmark's leading development magazine.
• Researchers discover mechanism that prevents two species from reproducing | Cornell Chronicle feature | 10/27/2009 Chronicle feature
  
  Cornell researchers have discovered a genetic mechanism in fruit flies that prevents two closely related species from reproducing, a finding that offers clues to how species evolve.
• Stimulus funds to pay for equipment at nanoscale facility | Cornell Chronicle feature | 10/27/2009 Chronicle feature
  The Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility (CNF) has received $1.38 million in federal stimulus funds to help with equipment upgrades.
• 'The Mathematics of Sex' asserts that women opt out of math fields for flexibility | Cornell Chronicle feature | 10/27/2009 Chronicle feature
  
  Although females earn a large portion of bachelor's degrees in all fields of science, including math-intensive fields, disproportionately fewer women enter graduate school in these fields, and fewer women who earn Ph.D.s apply for academic jobs.