With the help of a recent $19 million American Recovery and Re-investment Act (ARRA) grant, the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) could become the site of the most advanced x-ray machine in the world.

According to Sol Gruner, physics, Cornell’s synchotron is one of five of its kind in the United States. Gruner is director of the CHESS facility.

“Well, we’d like to build something which basically is more powerful than any of them,” he said.

That’s the goal for the Energy Recovery Linac X-Ray Machine (ERL), which, because of the grant, could have a conceptual design submitted by 2010.

Despite this federal award, there remain obstacles that must be cleared before construction of the ERL can begin.

Take a walk through the farmlands of Iowa, and all you will see are seemingly endless stretches of corn. Take a walk up to Block 3 of Dilmun Hill Cornell Student Farm, which is home to the Growing Mosaic Garden, and you will find hazelnut trees, chicory, hardy kiwi fruit, chamomile and a number of other plant species.

The Growing Mosaic Garden is a polyculture garden designed to incorporate many different species that contribute to the growth of the other species within the complex ecosystem.

Wren Albertson-Rogers ’10 designed the garden as an independent study project after taking a permaculture course at the Cayuga Nature Center taught by Steve Gabriel, who works for the Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute.

With concerns over global climate change growing, scientists have commenced research on all possible effects on different ecosystems. Richard Phillips, assistant professors of biology at Indiana University, studies the effects of the rising atmospheric carbon concentration on woody forests, and how nitrogen in the soil limits plant growth.

You are apathetic and bored. Minutes ago, you opened your newspaper or browsed through your favorite news site. You found all the top stories were the current "hot topic" ones, from swine flu to Ms. Prejean's recent escapades. You want to read something more novel, more substantive. You may even be up for a commentary piece.

If so, I may have the piece for you: "God Talk", a recent New York Times blog post by Stanley Fish. If you are an English major, you may have heard of him. If not, he is both a Davidson-Kahn Distinguished University Professor of Humanities and a Professor of Law at Florida International University.