science wire

Insect pollinators contribute $29 billion to U.S. farm income
Bees and other insects that pollinate plants in the United States have suffered in recent decades from mites, pesticides, pathogens, land development and habitat fragmentation. Nevertheless, production of insect-pollinated crops has mostly increased this century. Now, new research shows that insect pollinators' value to farmers may be hard to replace.

A robot learns how to tidy up after you
Sooner than you think, we may have robots to tidy up our homes. Researchers in Cornell's Personal Robotics Lab have trained a robot to survey a room, identify all the objects, figure out where they belong and put them away.

Researchers develop food aid decision-making tool
Shipping food to foreign countries may not always be the best response to food crises; sometimes sending cash or procuring goods locally is cheaper, faster and more effective.

Edible ’stop signs’ in food could help control overeating
Once you pop the top of a tube of potato chips, it can be hard to stop munching its contents. But Cornell researchers may have found a novel way to help: Add edible serving size markers that act as subconscious stop signs. As part of an experiment carried out on two groups of college students (98 students total) while they were watching video clips in class, researchers from Cornell's Food and Brand Lab served tubes of Lays Stackables, some of which contained chips dyed red.

New book offers a roadmap for translational research
Translational research is often described as a bridge between academia and the outside world, connecting researchers, policymakers and community practitioners to improve human health and development.

Robots learn to pick up oddly shaped objects
When Cornell engineers developed a new type of robot hand that could pick up oddly shaped objects it presented a challenge: It was easy for a human operator to choose the best place to take hold of a

Soil mix and light matter
Light and dirt can make all the difference when it comes to growing plants, stress scientists at the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station (CUAES). Yet many researchers fail to consider these factors when they develop their studies, says greenhouse manager Andy Leed. Leed showed what a difference potting mix can make at a March open house for researchers across campus.

Breeder works to alleviate aluminum toxicity in rice
As rice farmers around the world begin to turn from wet paddies to dry fields in an attempt to conserve water and mitigate climate change, they are facing a new foe: aluminum. Aluminum, the third most abundant element in soil, can be toxic to plants in acidic conditions. Its harmful effects are diluted in the flooding of traditional rice paddies but are becoming an issue as farmers try new ways of raising their crops.

Three-year decision-making collaboration results in 85 publications, and more
Three years ago, Valerie Hans, professor of law, applied to participate in a Cornell project that would bring together social scientists working on how people make decisions.

Leuenberger to study Israel/Palestine ’map wars’
Christine Leuenberger, senior lecturer in the Department of Science and Technology Studies, has been awarded more than $150,000 from the National Science Foundation's Division of Social and Economic Sciences.

African scientist and designer partner to fashion anti-malarial garment
Two Cornellians from Africa have created a hooded body suit embedded at the molecular level with insecticides to ward off mosquitoes infected with malaria, a disease that kills some 655,000 people annually on the continent.

Cornell releases two new raspberry varieties
With its two newest raspberry releases, Big Red is going gold and crimson. Double Gold and Crimson Night offer small-scale growers and home gardeners showy, flavorful raspberries on vigorous, disease resistant plants.

’Why Calories Count’ weighs in on food, from science to politics
A calorie is simply a measurement of energy. But it's also the source of confusion and worry for many people trying to lose weight. At the same time, calories - too few or too many - are causing health problems resulting from malnutrition and obesity that affect billions of people around the world.

For bulging biceps, electronic trainer will fix your form
To achieve buff biceps, proper form for strength-training exercises is key, and people often turn to professional trainers to correct them and prevent injury.

Farmers into fungi can reap forest rewards
With its large clumps of cascading white tendrils, the Hericium erinaceus looks less like a mushroom and more like a lion's mane (its nickname).

Nontoxic nanosheets could turn waste heat into power
Cornell materials scientists have developed an inexpensive, environmentally friendly way of synthesizing oxide crystal sheets, just nanometers thick, which have useful properties for electronics and alternative energy applications.

Robotics expert is part of $10M automated programming project
Cornell robotics researcher Hadas Kress-Gazit is part of a five-year, $10 million National Science Foundation Expeditions in Computing project to make computer programming faster, easier and more intuitive.

Experts suggest grazing cows, sheep, ducks in forests
Putting cows, sheep and other livestock into forests to graze could prove to be a valuable tool for New York woodland management, say Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) agriculture educators and colleagues in the Cornell Forestry Program.

Combat makes for gun-shy investors, study says
Veterans who have faced combat are more risk-averse when it comes to investing than noncombatants, according to a new Cornell study. As a result, they may struggle to build wealth through long-term investments, the authors say. Veterans with combat experience were 14 percent to 18 percent less likely than other veterans to invest in such risky assets as mutual funds and stocks, according to the research.

New app signals that endangered whales are nearby
A whale of an app is about to make a splash on iPhones and iPads, providing a hand-held tool for those who need to know if right whales are swimming through their shipping lanes and what to do in such an event.

Sugar could be a sweet way to control insect pests
Sugar may be a treat for humans, but for aphids it can be life threatening. A $452,000 grant to Cornell and Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (BTI) will fund research exploiting this vulnerability to control agriculturally important insect pests.

New image sensors could lead to focusing photos after they’re taken
At the heart of digital photography is a chip called an image sensor that captures a map of the intensity of the light as it comes through the lens and converts it to an electronic signal.

Kyle Shen named a naval research young investigator
Kyle Shen, assistant professor of physics, has been awarded $566,000 over three years from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Program.

Incentives in Bitcoin and other online services could deteriorate as system grows
The Bitcoin online currency system has an inherent weakness that may become a problem as the system grows, according to a team of Cornell and Microsoft Research computer scientists. A feature intended to encourage participation and speed processing is actually a disincentive, they say, adding that the same weakness is turning up in other online incentive systems.

Berry growers cautioned about new insect pest
Late last summer, a single fruit fly dropped into a vinegar trap in the Hudson Valley, alerting extension specialists to spotted wing drosophila's (SWD) arrival to New York state.

New alfalfa variety could be big boost to dairy industry
Dairy farmers could see a boost in milk production, thanks to a new alfalfa variety to be released by Cornell's world-class plant breeders.

Bird ranges shift northward, but not as fast as climate
As warmer winter temperatures become more common, one way for some animals to adjust is to shift their ranges northward. But a new study of 59 North American bird species indicates that doing so is not easy or quick - it took about 35 years for many birds to move far enough north for winter temperatures to match where they historically lived.

Warmer summers could cause trout populations to dwindle
The New York state fish could be jeopardy due to climate change, warn Cornell scientists. Warmer summers mean later fall spawning times and fewer nests for brook trout, which could eventually affect the fish's population numbers. Cliff Kraft, associate professor in the Department of Natural Resources, and four other researchers looked at 11 years of data from Rock Lake in the Adirondacks to find the link between summer temperatures and spawning times for brook trout.

$3M will help ’green’ up NYC’s low-income, older housing
Energy experts will test new, energy-saving approaches in older multifamily housing developments in the New York City region with a $3 million, two-year grant.

’Wee Stinky’ corpse flower draws thousands to Cornell
When a rare corpse plant showed signs of imminent blooming on Cornell's campus March 14, the university opened its greenhouse doors to the public and live-streamed the event through two separate feeds.

Of mice and men: House mice used to track human migration
They may be small, but the information mice can convey about the movements of humans throughout history is mighty, according to a Cornell researcher.

Strawberry lovers: Check out Purple Wonder
Cornell's newest and darkest strawberry variety - Purple Wonder - will make its debut at the Philadelphia International Flower Show March 5 through an exclusive licensing agreement with seed giant W. Atlee Burpee Co.

Researchers challenge study on hydrofracking’s gas footprint
A Cornell study's contention that hydraulic fracturing would be worse for climate change than burning coal is being challenged by another study, also by Cornell researchers.

New account of Wittgenstein’s 1949 visit focuses on details
More than 60 years after the fact, the story of Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein's 1949 visit to Cornell has been retold in greater detail than ever before by two Cornell professors in a recent joint paper that also stresses the importance of details in narratives.

In Spain, eco-friendly hotels are more profitable
Hotels in Spain that have sustainability certification are more profitable than those in that country that don't, according to a new study from Cornell University's Center for Hospitality Research (CHR). The study found that of the more than 2,000 Spanish hotels surveyed, those that had earned the international environmental standard ISO 14001 recorded stronger sales and earnings than those that had not.

Group seeks new ways to help underserved New Yorkers
From sponsoring "speed dating" events and forging research partnerships to promoting health and wellness by teaching 10-year-olds ballroom dancing, the Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC

Physicists predict when brittle materials fail
It doesn't happen often, but structures like bridges, airplanes and buildings do fail, sometimes catastrophically.

Robotic gripper can throw darts, balls - with no arm motion
The Cornell-developed robotic gripper that already boasts Internet fame and imitation has evolved: Now, it can throw things, without swinging an arm, by using air pressure to launch objects forward.

Robots could climb and assemble structures, make construction sites safer
Like something straight out of "Star Wars," armies of robots could nimbly be crawling up towers and skyscrapers to make repairs in the not-so-distant future, so humans don't have to.

Wheat varieties are being developed to resist global threat
Innovative techniques in wheat breeding are necessary to meet the needs of the world's growing population and overcome environmental challenges, said Ravi Singh at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting, Feb.

Rocket launched into northern lights to reveal GPS effects
As the brilliant colors of the aurora borealis, or northern lights, delights skygazers, Cornell researchers are discovering how their physics affects satellite signals here on Earth.

Honeycomb structure responsible for bacteria’s extraordinary sense
Cornell researchers have peered into the complex molecular network of receptors that give one-celled organisms like bacteria the ability to sense their environment and respond to chemical changes as small as 1 part in 1,000. Just as humans use five senses to navigate through surroundings, bacteria employ an intricate structure of thousands of receptor molecules, associated enzymes and linking proteins straddling their cell membranes that trigger responses to external chemical changes.

New approach could more effectively diagnose personality disorders
Personality disorders could be more effectively diagnosed by identifying and targeting the disrupted neurobiological systems where the disorders originate, report Cornell researchers. The way that these mental illnesses are now classified - based on particular patterns of thought and behavior - is misguided and has little hard evidence to support it, reports Cornell neuroscientist Richard Depue and his colleague in a special issue of the Journal of International Review of Psychiatry (23:3).

Nanoparticles in food, vitamins could harm human health
Billions of engineered nanoparticles in foods and pharmaceuticals are ingested by humans daily, and new Cornell research warns they may be more harmful to health than previously thought. A research collaboration led by Michael Shuler, the Samuel B. Eckert Professor of Chemical Engineering and the James and Marsha McCormick Chair of Biomedical Engineering, studied how large doses of polystyrene nanoparticles - a common, FDA-approved material found in substances from food additives to vitamins - affected how well chickens absorbed iron, an essential nutrient, into their cells.

Scientists discuss climate change, biochar, wheat rust
Three Cornell researchers will discuss mitigating climate change, biochar and the challenges of wheat rust, respectively, at the 2012 Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada, Feb.

Soybean can grow in New York, thanks to climate change
Warmer weather across northern New York could present an opportunity for farmers: soybeans. The low-input crop is currently commanding a high price, making it increasingly attractive for local growers, according to Cornell crop and soil science professor William Cox.

BREAD grant funds research to tackle plant viral diseases
A team of international researchers is working to tackle the global problem of plant viral diseases that are spread by insects, thanks to close to $1 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

A neuroscientific odyssey into how we ’remember the future’
Shimon Edelman finds happiness when he hikes. He treks the canyons of the American southwest, the hills of the Negev Desert, the gorges of Ithaca.

Women leave math-intensive science fields when they decide to have kids
Women with advanced degrees in math-intensive academic fields drop out of fast-track research careers primarily because they want children - not because their performance is devalued or they are shortchanged during ing and hiring, report two Cornell professors.

ISS fellowships free some of Cornell’s top social scientists to pursue research
The Institute for the Social Sciences (ISS) at Cornell will sponsor 12 of the university's most promising social scientists for one semester, enabling them to pursue their research, free from teaching and most departmental duties.

Low altitude, high-flying beans to benefit Africa
Slender green beans air-freighted from Kenya to markets in Western Europe are a profitable crop for high-altitude farms across sub-Saharan Africa.

Caregiver personality traits affect mental, physical health
Taking care of an aging or disabled loved one can be hazardous to your health. But certain personality traits appear to reduce caregivers' risk for health problems, reports a new Cornell study. "Personality accounted for about a quarter of the variance in caregivers' mental health and about 10 percent of the variance in their physical health," said lead author Corinna Loeckenhoff, assistant professor of human development in Cornell's College of Human Ecology.

Tapping into maple success through sanitation
The secret to success for maple syrup producers may lie in the science of sanitation. Simply changing taps and tubing or using special spouts could double the amount of sap seeping from New York's maple trees, according to Cornell experts who have spent six years researching the topic.

Portable device will quickly detect pathogens in developing countries
Two Cornell professors will combine their inventions to develop a handheld pathogen detector that will give health care workers in the developing world speedy results to identify in the field such pathogens as tuberculosis, chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV. Using synthetic DNA, Dan Luo, professor of biological and environmental engineering, has devised a method of "amplifying" very small samples of pathogen DNA, RNA or proteins.

Volunteers sought for simulated Mars mission and study of ’menu fatigue’
Astronauts on a mission to Mars will need much more than freeze-dried ice cream to sustain them, and researchers at Cornell are working to determine the best way to keep them well nourished during their three-year journeys and four-month stays on the Red Planet.

New model shows how often to review material for flashcard programs
A challenge for students and teachers - and today, for designers of educational software: How often should material be reviewed for best learning? Wait too long to review and it fades away; review too soon and the effort is wasted.

Among disadvantaged, college reduces odds for marriage
For those with few social advantages, college is a prime pathway to financial stability, but it also unexpectedly lowers their odds of ever marrying, according to an analysis by Cornell sociologist Kelly Musick in the February issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family (74:1).

Researchers provide new insight into how metals fail
The eventual failure of metals, such as the aluminum in ships and airplanes, can often be blamed on breaks, or voids, in the material's atomic lattice. They're at first invisible, only microns in size, but once enough of them link up, the metal eventually splits apart. Cornell engineers, trying to better understand this process, have discovered that nanoscale voids behave differently than the larger ones that are hundreds of thousands of atoms in scale, studied through traditional physics.

Sustainable seaweed: Researchers explore algae-based animal feed
The pigs and poultry in Professor Xingen Lei's lab have been consuming feed one wouldn't expect in Ithaca: marine algae.

Guilt, gender play major roles in human-animal relations
Until recently, most archaeologists viewed human-animal relationships primarily in terms of their dietary role.

Researchers put the squeeze on citrus disease by developing trees that taste bad to bugs
With Florida's $9 billion citrus industry threatened by a deadly bacterial disease, Rick Kress '73 asked scientists at Cornell's New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva for help.

Sound effects: Book examines impact of sound on culture
In "The Oxford Handbook of Sound Studies" (Oxford University Press), co-editor Trevor Pinch, professor of sociology and of science and technology studies, takes a look at how sound is experienced in machine shops, design studios, private homes and dance clubs.

Herriot, a luscious new strawberry, beats out other varieties
Strawberry lovers will soon have Herriot - a sweet treat featuring a flavor reminiscent of historic varieties and a slight pineapple overtone - to look forward to, thanks to a new variety of large, heart-shaped fruit developed by Cornell.

On the New York veggie forefront: Tatsoi, shiso, maxixe and other ethnic delectables
Komatsuna. Shiso. Winged beans. Maxixe. They're not your garden-variety vegetables. But while they may be relatively unknown outside of their home countries, a project by Cornell Cooperative Extension is trying to give these crops their time in the sun.

Center for Advanced Computing receives national award for hepatitis research
The Cornell Center for Advanced Computing (CAC) has received a High-Performance Computing Innovation Excellence Award from the International Data Corp.

Large and in charge: Powerful people overestimate their own height
The psychological experience of power makes people feel taller than they are, according to research by ILR School associate professor of organizational behavior Jack Goncalo and a Washington University colleague. "Although a great deal of research has shown that physically imposing individuals are more likely to acquire power, this work is the first to show that the powerful may actually feel taller than they are," Goncalo and Michelle Duguid write in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science.

Strep-resistant fire blight found in New York orchards
Cornell plant pathologists have issued a warning to New York apple and pear growers after discovering a strain of fire blight that is resistant to such traditional treatments as the antibiotic streptomycin.

Revolutionary tool will methodically track fish populations in the ocean
Oceanographer Chuck Greene envisions a day when he will be able to observe the ocean the way a meteorologist observes the weather - with continuous streams of data that allow him to see changes as they happen and predict future impacts on marine animal populations and ecosystems. That day may be coming soon, thanks to a revolutionary ocean-observing tool he is helping to optimize, one capable of collecting and transmitting ecosystem data to his desktop in real time.

Slaves or not, Babylonians were much like us, says book
They got married, had children, made beer. Although they lived 3,500 years ago in Nippur, Babylonia, in many ways they seem like us.

’Smart’ bird feeders can track who eats when
To study bird feeding and breeding behavior, ornithologists used to tag birds with colored bands and then painstakingly track the birds' activity.

Now you see it, now you didn’t: Cloaking a moment in time
In movie magic, people and objects can appear or disappear or move from place to place in an instant. Just stop the camera, move things around and start it again. Now, Cornell researchers have demonstrated a similar "temporal cloak" - albeit on a very small scale - in the transport of information by a beam of light.

Compound that controls Listeria
In a year when cantaloupe tainted with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes killed 30 people, the discovery of a compound that controls this deadly bacteria - and possibly others - is great news. Cornell researchers have identified a compound called fluoro-phenyl-styrene-sulfonamide (FPSS) that is safe for mammals but stops Listeria in its tracks.

Classicist is uncovering lives of ancient artists
In a corner of Verity Platt's Goldwin Smith Hall office sits a large plaster reproduction of a famous classical sculpture fragment, the Belvedere Torso.

Worm compost can suppress plant disease, regulate nutrients, research finds
Organic growers could soon have another weapon in their arsenal, courtesy of the humble worm. Cornell researchers have found that vermicompost - the product if composting using various species of worms - is not only an excellent fertilizer, but could also help prevent a pathogen that has been a scourge to greenhouse growers.

Divorce fears widespread among young cohabiting couples
With the share of married adults at an all-time low in the United States, new research by demographers at Cornell and the University of Central Oklahoma offers clues about what's preventing young adults from tying the knot. Through qualitative s with 122 cohabiting men and women, ages 18-36, researchers found widespread apprehension about divorce - even in those with no personal experience of divorce.

New book on teen brains can help improve reasoning, decision making
Teenage brains undergo big changes, and they won't look or function like adult brains until well into one's 20s.

Teens more likely to eat breakfast if visited by virtual ’pets’
A fake Fido can motivate your child to eat breakfast, reports a new study. In a Cornell experiment, researchers found that teens who received feedback from virtual pets on a smartphone about their morning food choices were twice as likely to eat breakfast. The study - one of the first to test efficacy of mobile technologies to motivate adolescents to make healthy nutritional choices - was published Nov.

After years of ’fracking,’ Pennsylvanians remain mixed about gas drilling
Despite having an eight-year head start on Marcellus Shale natural gas extraction, Pennsylvania residents are just as uncertain about the effects of horizontal hydraulic drilling as New Yorkers, researchers at Cornell and Penn State have found.

Report: Online coupons help consumers and restaurants
Daily online deals, or so-called "social coupons," help restaurants and consumers, according to a new report from the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research (CHR).

Figurines reveal cross-pollination of religions in ancient Greece
The sectarian wars raging around the globe attest to the rigidity of many religious outlooks today. But in the second century BCE, residents on the Greek island of Delos saw nothing wrong with using others' gods in their prayers.

As Earth warms, plants and bees keep pace, study reports
As the warm temperatures of spring start a little earlier each year due to climate change, bees and plants are keeping pace, according to a new study published online Dec. 5 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. An analysis of bee collection data over the past 130 years shows that spring arrives about 10 days earlier than in the 1880s, and bees and flowering plants have kept pace by arriving earlier in lock-step.

Artificial intestine could treat children’s bowel condition
A tiny 3-D collagen "scaffold" developed in a Cornell lab could prove a lifesaver for those who have lost parts of their intestine.

Research on sand dunes wins award
A Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q)/Cornell research project to better understand microbes in sand dunes and engineer microbiological methods to prevent mobile sand dunes from encroaching onto infrastructure won the "Best Environment Research Program of the Year" at the Annual Research Forum of the Qatar Foundation in Doha, Nov.

Economists: 9 million lost health insurance in recession
The "Great Recession" of 2007-09 - the longest and most severe U.S. recession since 1933 - has cost an estimated 9.3 million American adults their health insurance coverage due to unemployment, reports a working paper published online in November by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Study may lead to drug therapies to prevent atherosclerosis
As inevitable as the wrinkling of skin with age is the hardening of the blood vessels - a condition called atherosclerosis that is often blamed for heart disease. New Cornell research offers a clue into the underlying causes of atherosclerosis in terms of how the cells that line the blood vessels, called endothelial cells, behave as the vessels stiffen with age.

Boyce Thompson joins forces with other plant nonprofits to benefit humanity
Boyce Thompson joins forces with other plant nonprofits to benefit humanity The Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (BTI) at Cornell has joined forces with three other U.S. nonprofit plant science research institutions to form the Association of Independent Plant Research Institutes (AIPI) in an effort to target research to meet the profound challenges facing society in a more coordinated and rapid fashion.

Cash for Clunkers was a clunker, says energy economist
The 2009 Cash for Clunkers federal vehicle trade-in program was a clunker, concludes a new study. The program, it says, would have been more effective with higher fuel economy requirements for new vehicles and different vehicle-age thresholds for various types of trade-in vehicles.

Vet College now one of only two schools to offer ’ablation’ to cure dogs’ racing hearts
Taking advantage of a feat that synthesized human and veterinary medical procedures and united cardiologists from two continents and four medical institutions, a 2-year-old Brittany spaniel has a new outlook on life, renewed energy and an insatiable appetite.

$7 million grant to help boost Uganda’s banana production
Pests and diseases that attack the Matoke banana, one of Uganda's primary food staples, is the focus of a $7.07 million grant awarded to Cornell by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

More than just tape: 3M partners with food scientist
When Martin Wiedmann, professor of food science, tests meat samples suspected to be tainted with salmonella, he may be able to do so even faster, thanks to a new high-tech tool recently added to his arsenal.

How unchecked alarms can spark autoimmune disease
One in five Americans suffers from autoimmune disease, in which the immune system goes off-track and attacks the body's own cells.