Following years of debate about how to fund Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Observatory, a federally owned research center managed by Cornell, prospects for its financial backing appear better after the National Academy of Sciences called the facility “unique” and “unmatched” in its ability to detect dangerous Near-Earth Objects.

Arecibo itself dates back to 1960, when former Prof. William E. Gordon, engineering, proposed the creation of an observatory to research the ionosphere. The facility now houses the world’s largest radio telescope, with a main reflector dish that measures 1000 feet in diameter and covers 18 acres.

Despite the budget cuts across all departments of the University, scientific research at Cornell has the finances to prosper thanks to the funds received from the government’s stimulus plan.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 passed by Congress in February pumped $787 billion into the ailing economy. A part of the stimulus included increasing spending in education, health care and infrastructure.

But the Act also allotted $8.9 billion to scientific research, which was split among several of the nation’s major research centers, including NASA, the National Science Foundation, research universities and the U.S. Department of Energy.

A department has merged. A visual facility has been cut. A library is closing.

Across the pond, universities throughout the United Kingdom have either closed departments or are considering closing them due to a lack of funding.

Last week, lawmakers gathered in Albany to meet with New York Gov. David Patterson in response to his new budget that failed to include funding for research programs that were funded last year. One noticeable absence was $450,000 in funding towards Cornell’s Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors. According to Newsday, without these same funds that the program received last year, the researchers would be forced to discontinue their work. The proposal also did not include the $300,000 for a hotline for breast cancer patients and their families based out of Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y.

Eight years after the Bush administration’s ban on federal funding for new stem cell research, stem cell laboratories may finally be getting the lifeline they have been waiting for.

Throughout his campaign, President Barack Obama promised to change this federal stem cell policy. On February 5, Obama issued a guarantee to reporters that he would “sign an executive order for stem cells” to restore federal funding. A week and a half later, on February 15, Obama advisor David Axelrod confirmed this promise on Fox News.

Stem cells have the unique ability to develop into any type of cell in the body — a property that makes them attractive for a variety of medical applications — but where this ability comes from remains unclear.