Your January 2025 reads
This month’s featured titles – most by A&S authors – include a work of nonfiction about honeybees, a kids’ picture book, and a novel set in rural Nova Scotia.
Neuroscientist Antonio Fernandez-Ruiz wins Scialog Award
“This project sits at the cross-roads of neuroscience, ethology and artificial intelligence."
Evolution is not just survival of the fittest. It’s also survival of the luckiest — and this science proves it
Luck can change life later on. “We wanted to know,” Matthew Zipple, a Postdoctoral Associate in the Sheehan Lab in the neurobiology and behavior department at Cornell University told NPR, “if we create a society where everyone starts out with the same genetics, has access to the same resources in the same environment… do we see that inequality developing?”
Mice use their tongues to ‘see’ tactile targets
Cornell scientists have identified the neural pathway mice use to direct the tongue to tactile targets.
Small wins in early life lead to inequality in adulthood
Lucky breaks in a male mouse’s youth can lead to large advantages in adulthood, especially in groups that compete for food, territory and mates.
Pupil size in sleep reveals how memories are sorted and preserved
The eyes may be the window to the soul, but the pupil is key to understanding how, and when, the brain forms strong, long-lasting memories, Cornell researchers have found.
MouseGoggles offer immersive look into neural activity
Thanks to their genetic makeup, their ability to navigate mazes and their willingness to work for cheese, mice have long been a go-to model for behavioral and neurological studies.
New book explains mysteries behind bee behavior
"The take-home message from my book is that these small creatures are extremely intelligent. They may well be the most intelligent of all the insects."
Scientists find sleep's secret power. It is related to your memory
Our brain cells remain active while we sleep, allowing for new memories to form.
Azahara Oliva, assistant professor of the Neurobiology and Behavior Department at Cornell University is quoted, “This means that memory is a two-fold process, with neural circuits that enhance the consolidation of a given experience and neural circuits that control that this consolidation doesn’t go over a healthy limit”
Researchers assess whether animals feel emotion
An interdisciplinary group of animal behavior researchers from the fields of biology, psychology, anthropology and philosophy were included in the survey. Klarman Fellow Matthew Zipple is first author.
University celebrates top faculty for outstanding teaching, mentoring
Eleven teaching faculty from across the university have been awarded Cornell’s highest honors for graduate and undergraduate teaching, Interim President Michael I. Kotlikoff announced Oct. 22.
Psychedelics excite cells in hippocampus to reduce anxiety
A classic psychedelic was found to activate a cell type in the brain of mice and rats that silences other neighboring neurons, providing insight into how such drugs reduce anxiety.
New Faculty: Weinan Sun
Weinan Sun, Neurobiology and Behavior
From portfolios to pizza, fall A&S career events explore diverse fields
"Cornell alumni are generous with their time and efforts to assist students, to answer questions from students, or connect them to people and places."
New A&S dean relishes ‘life in a university’
Peter John Loewen says he's excited to support faculty in their research, meet students and showcase the value of a liberal arts education.
Sleep resets neurons for new memories the next day
The study answers how people can keep learning new things for a lifetime without using up all of their neurons.
Professor’s perceptron paved the way for AI – 60 years too soon
NBB has a room called the Rosenblatt room, named after Frank Rosenblatt. You can read about Frank Rosenblatt in the Cornell Chronicle.
Scientists think they know why humans live so long: Moms
The authors of the paper, “Maternal Care Leads to the Evolution of Long, Slow Lives,” published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on June 14, 2024 are worried the paper may be taken out of context in what a mother's care means. "Humans are a primate and we live much longer lives than is expected based on our body size, even compared to other primates. We also show a very long period of intense connection between mother and child that is unusual among animals," lead author Matthew Zipple, postdoctoral fellow in neurobiology and behaviour in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University. Read the story in the CBC News.
Mothers’ care is central factor in animal, human longevity
The relationship between mother and child offers clues to the mystery of why humans live longer lives than expected for their size – and sheds new light on what it means to be human.
Peter Loewen named dean of Arts and Sciences
Coming from the University of Toronto, where he was the director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Loewen began his five-year appointment as the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Aug. 1.
Mothers live longer as child mortality declines
The dramatic decline in childhood mortality during the 20th century has added a full year to women’s lives, according to a new study.
Cartoons in the Curriculum: Teaching Science through Animation
BioNB 1100 - Natural History of the Magic Kingdom: Understanding Animal Behavior through Animated Films taught by Michael Sheehan, an associate professor of neurobiology and behavior, Nancy and Peter Meinig Family Investigator in the Life Sciences has become a popular class. "This class is really about how we choose to portray ourselves, as acted out by animals", per Professor Michael Sheehan.
'I've formed a multifaceted view that I will take with me out into the world'
Precious Oyewole is a biological sciences major.
Klarman Fellow: AI has a lot to learn from 'flexible and reliable' human memory
Greater understanding of beneficial characteristics of the human brain, such as flexibility and reliability, will help Wenbo Tang develop therapies for human diseases – and improve AI systems.
Suffrage Science Award given to neuroscientist Azahara Oliva
The award aims to “create a self-perpetuating cohort of talent that can encourage others to enter science and reach senior leadership roles.”
Summer Experience Grant applications now open
The grants provide funding for students in unpaid or low-paying summer experiences to offset the cost of taking on those positions.
Flexible due dates lower student stress without loss of rigor
Mark Sarvary, Ph.D. ’06, found that when life began returning to a “new normal” after three online semesters during the COVID pandemic, students’ expectations regarding assignment flexibility had changed.
Mind Prize awarded to neuroscientist Antonio Fernandez-Ruiz
The prize aims to “change the paradigm of neuroscience research by creating a community of next-frontier thinkers who can uncover a deeper understanding of the brain and cognition.”
Inaugural collegewide awards celebration honors community
Faculty and staff from across Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (Cornell CALS) came together on March 4 to honor 30 awardees at the inaugural CALS Faculty and Staff Awards, held in the Statler Ballroom.
Support Arts & Sciences on Giving Day March 14
The College of Arts & Sciences is preparing for Giving Day on Thursday, March 14 and we hope the whole Cornell community can join in to support the work and growth of our students and faculty.
The Brain Might Not Be a Blank Slate at Birth After All
The blank slate theory for newborn brains is being challenged. Antonio Fernandez-Ruiz, Nancy and Peter Meinig Family Investigator in the Life Sciences, Assistant Professor of neurobiology and behavior at Cornell University is quoted as saying "Dragoi's paper starts by describing how there has been a paradigm shift in recent years in the study of how the brain represents the external world.'
When placed outdoors, female lab mice behave very differently
When you take the lab away, female mice are more likely to play, according to a new Cornell study.
The study, published Feb. 14 in the journal BMC Biology, took lab mice and placed them in large outdoor enclosures. The researchers found that male behavior was essentially the same as genetically wild mice, but females displayed radically different behaviors. It’s the first study to examine social behavior of lab mice in large outdoor enclosures.
In chatty midshipman fish, the midbrain awakens a gift of gab
The midbrain in these fish may serve as a useful model for how mammals and other vertebrates, including humans, control vocal expressions.
December A&S graduates share stories of growth
The College hosted a new pre-graduation reception in the Groos Family Atrium of Klarman Hall for December graduates and their families.
New Research Sheds Light on Origins of Social Behaviors
Senior author Nilay Yapici, Nancy and Peter Meinig Family Investigator in the Life Sciences, Assistant Professor is quoted as saying, “In our study, we found that hyperactivating the visual system overran the inhibition generated by chemical signals emitted by the male fly to say to the other male, ‘Okay, you know, I’m another male, don’t mess with me”. They have found that fruit flies also use their vision to enable their social behaviors.
Service to science: Two veterans find purpose in neuroscience
After service in the military, Chris Brunkhorst and Caleb Jones sought new outlets to channel their discipline and their commitment to helping others – and they both found it in neuroscience. Now doctoral students in the Cornell’s Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Brunkhost and Jones are pursuing different ways to make meaningful impacts on people's lives.
Sea fireflies synchronize their sparkle to seek soulmates
In sea fireflies’ underwater ballet, the males sway together in perfect, illuminated synchronization, basking in the glow of their secreted iridescent mucus.
“It’s extreme,” said Nicholai M. Hensley, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior in the College of Arts and Sciences. “It’s an illustration of convergent evolution and a striking example of synchronized bioluminescent mating displays. The males are putting it all out on the dance floor. It’s a big bright display.”
Wasps that recognize faces cooperate more, and may be smarter
Social interactions may well make animals smarter and more diverse, a new study of paper wasps suggests.
The study, “Evidence for a selective link between cooperation and individual recognition,” published Dec. 7 in Current Biology, offers behavioral evidence of an evolutionary link between the ability to recognize individuals and social cooperation.
Parrots, songbirds have evolved distinct brain mechanisms, Klarman Fellow finds
The study provides a clue into how parrot – and human – brains allow continuous, flexible vocal learning.
In a first, memory shown to have two distinct past and future paths
Cornell University Scientists reveal that the hippocampus region of the brain has two separate parts. One that remembers the past and one that can plan for the future. Antonio Fernandez -Ruiz; Nancy and Peter Meinig Family Investigator in the Life Sciences, Assistant Professor in neurobiology and behavior is quoted as saying, “We uncovered that two different neural codes support these very important aspects of memory and cognition, and can be dissociated, as we did experimentally.”
Role of hippocampus in two functions of memory revealed
The finding has important implications for one day treating memory and learning issues found in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
As Pew investigator, Goldberg to study how animals feed young
The collaboration aims for a breakthrough in understanding the neural mechanisms by which parental animals balance their own needs with the needs of their offspring.
Nilay Yapici
Would you like to learn how Nilay Yapici, Nancy and Peter Meinig Family Investigator in the Life Sciences, Assistant Professor of the neurobiology and behavior department became interested in biology or why she studies neuroscience? To learn more, please read Current Biology.
Antonio Fernandez-Ruiz receives NIH award for ‘transformational’ project
Neuroscientist Antonio Fernandez-Ruiz has received a New Innovator Director’s Award from the National Institutes of Health’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program.
The Neurobiology Of Changing Priorities In A Songbird
Dopamine neurons fire differently when there are multiple rewards. Professor Goldberg, associate professor of neurobiology and behavior and Robert R. Capranica Fellow in the College of Arts and Sciences stated, “What we did that was new to my knowledge, is we were less interested in how an animal achieves a given objective and more interested in what happens when multiple objectives are on the table”.
When needs compete, love trumps thirst
When a lonely and thirsty male zebra finch encountered a female, his thirst waned and he instead focused his attention on her, a shift reflected in the dopamine system.
Fulbright-Hays awardees prioritize community-engaged discoveries
The competitive fellowships send PhD students abroad for up to 12 months to build on their language proficiency, engage with other cultures and complete significant dissertation research on global cultures and societies.
Over 80 students receive NSF graduate fellowships
Eighty-four students have been selected as National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) fellows in 2023, comprising the largest group of new fellows Cornell has ever fielded in one year.
The College welcomes new faculty for 2023-24
Our 34 new faculty will enrich the College of Arts & Sciences with creative ideas in a vast array of topics.
New research sheds light on origins of social behaviors
The fruit fly’s visual system, not just chemical receptors, are deeply involved with their social behaviors.