"Crop mobbers" got dirt under their nails and apple trees in the ground on Sunday, Apr. 11. At Ithaca's first Crop Mob, an event designed to give people the chance to work on a farm for a day, about 30 local volunteers gathered at The Good Life Farm in Interlaken, NY.

On Apr. 22, students representatives from Cornell and other NY schools convened at the University of Buffalo for Power Shift 2010.  The annual student conference focuses on contentious issues, including climate change, environmental concerns and energy.  New York State Senator Antoine Thompson addressed the student activists about federal legislation to limit climate change.

Prof. Karl Niklas, plant biology, demonstrated his interest in solving puzzles through mathematics at the age of seven, calculating the surface area of the ceramic floor in his mother's kitchen. He discovered his passion for botany in his senior year as an undergraduate, and now, he pursues his passion to solve puzzles from the ancient world of plants. 

A new exhibition at Mann Library, "The Sweet-Voiced Bird has Flown: Portraits of Common Birds in Decline," combines the aritistic talents of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators with the confounding research in the science community. It illustrates threatened birds, facing the possible perils of climate change and human development.

The Arnot Teaching and Research Forest provides a unique blend of acadmic endeavors, recreational activities and natural beauty, and at its core, this natural forest draws an sweet resource that sure to make even the driest pan-cakes taste better.  With science research and tourist attractions, the Arnot Forest is surely a sweet secret.

A January outbreak of Salmonella caused search for the culprit.  With the use of modern biotechnology, genetic sampling and detective work, investigators traced the source of the food pathogen to a distributor of pepper.

From Food, Inc. to Michael Pollan’s novels, in recent years, the public at large has criticized agriculture.  Often, the public portrays farmers as villains. Busy farmers frequently remain unheard in the media. Recently, ABC ran a special with the headline, “Got Milk? Got Ethics? Animal Rights v. U.S. Dairy Industry.”

With the Great Recession still looming over our economy, bipartisanship brewing within Congress and President Obama recently submitting his $3.8 trillion budget, the political vitriol against useless federal spending has been on the rise. These challenges to pork barrel projects has culminated in a recent report written by Senators Tom Coburn and John McCain highlighting the 100 most useless federally-funded projects.

The Bdelloid rotifer has survived 30 to 40 million years without ever having sex. Without genetic variation from sexual reproduction to defend against predators these small invertebrates should have already gone extinct, but Cornell researchers have discovered the rotifers’ trick to staying alive: a drying-up adaptation that protects them against parasites.

In the midst of a booming “green” culture with hybrid cars, reusable bags, countless recycle bins and the ever-present friendly reminders to adopt eco-friendly habits, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification has found its place. As part of a growing effort to bring ecological awareness and sustainable features to design, the United States Green Building Council developed the LEED rating system in 1998. This green building rating system, all too familiar to architecture students here at Cornell, has transformed the way architecture and design is taught.