Cornell researchers have identified regions of a fish brain that reveal the basic circuitry for how all vertebrates, including humans, generate sound used for social communication. Much like walking or swimming, to make sounds, vertebrate (animals with a backbone) brains must use timing signals to coordinate carefully the right muscles. In a study of midshipman […]
Study: Animals and humans eat clay to rid toxins
The phrase “eat dirt” takes on a whole new meaning when used by biologists, who have widely observed that humans, birds and mammals all engage in geophagy. A new Cornell study concludes that in humans, it’s best explained as providing protection from dietary chemicals, parasites and pathogens. So said lead author Sera Young, Ph.D. ’08, […]
Stacey Langwick to study law, plant biology
Many Africans who seek the help of traditional healers appear to be satisfied with their treatment, says Cornell anthropologist Stacey Langwick, who has worked with dozens of healers — practitioners of traditional herbal medicine — over the past 13 years of ethnographic field work in East Africa. New relationships among governments, academics and industry to […]
Student lands three grants to study nerve disorders
In his effort to address the needs of underserved communities in health and education, Christopher Blackwood, a doctoral student in the area of pharmacology, has landed three major fellowship awards in three months to support his research into how the brain creates new neurons. Blackwood hopes his work will contribute to new therapies for such […]
New dermal templates could help heal wounds
Victims of third-degree burns and other traumatic injuries endure pain, disfigurement, invasive surgeries and a long time waiting for skin to grow back. Improved tissue grafts designed by Cornell scientists that promote vascular growth could hasten healing, encourage healthy skin to invade the wounded area and reduce the need for surgeries. These so-called dermal templates […]
Protein aggregates could be key Parkinson’s clue
Proteins perform almost every function our bodies require for life. But, they also can misbehave in myriad ways. By retracing the history of each abnormal reaction, biochemists aim to determine the events that lead to disease and to intervene in the process. Collaborative research between Ithaca-based Cornell applied physicists and biochemists at Weill Cornell Medical […]
For older adults, there’s no place like home
For most older adults in long-term care, nursing homes are the last places they will ever live, and many give up hope on ever returning to home. However, a Cornell evaluation project finds that a person-centered approach shows great promise in helping nursing home residents move back to the community, allowing nearly 60 percent of […]
Fleming Award funds study of small-scale strokes
Two Cornell researchers — one in Manhattan and the other in Ithaca — aim to develop the first noninvasive functional MRI imaging technique for studying small-scale strokes in mice, which could eventually be used for clinical research in humans. The research is supported by a Samuel C. and Nancy M. Fleming Research Scholar Award in […]
Obesity threatens national security, hampers recruiting
At a time when American military forces are stretched thin overseas, a growing number of potential recruits are too fat to enlist, according to an analysis by Cornell economists. In the past half-century, the number of women of military age who exceed the U.S. Army’s enlistment standards for weight-for-height and body fat percentage has more […]
New iPhone app helps keep pets trim
Tipping the scales at 97 pounds, Sam was a chubby black Labrador retriever. Partial to meat, potatoes and the occasional mouthful of popcorn, he was a fine dinner companion and not very old when walking became difficult because of excessive weight. Today, Sam is a trim 85 pounds, much closer to the recommended weight range […]