College of Human Ecology

Students Study Health Policy, Gain Hands-On Experience in Tanzania

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Any person, any study, anywhere! This past summer, 16 students were selected to spend eight weeks in a cross cultural exchange after undergoing an application and interview process through the College of Human Ecology’s Nutritional Science Department. The Global Health Program in the Division of Nutritional Sciences provides students across colleges with opportunities to engage, explore, and learn in Tanzania, Zambia, the Dominican Republic and India. For the first four weeks of the program in Moshi, Tanzania — which is near Mount Kilimanjaro — the students lived with local families and enrolled in a course at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College. The second four weeks had students working 40 hours per week at a local non-governmental organization or hospital and engaging in service projects that related to their individual interests in global health.

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Spotlight on Sophomore Sawako Suzuki: Running Across the Country for Cancer

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Meet Sawako Suzuki ’20, a student passionate about solving scientific problems outside the classroom. For some people running is a sport or a rigorous workout. For Suzuki, running is a medium for community engagement, research, philanthropy and healthcare. This summer, she will be running across the country as a fundraiser for youth cancer patients. The run is from San Francisco to Boston.

Science

Emerald Ash Borer Invades Tompkins County Forests

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Dark green forests, blue skies, fresh water and sunny days are what make Ithaca ‘gorges.’ Unfortunately, this aesthetic is under attack by none other than the infamous Emerald Ash Borer. The EAB is an invasive beetle species which has destroyed ash trees across the country and its detection in Tompkins County is no surprise. The beetle was discovered in February in the Arnot Forest, which is Cornell’s largest teaching and research park at 4200 acres, by Mike Griggs, an entomologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service at Cornell’s Robert W. Holley Center. While peacefully walking his dogs near the forest, Griggs was startled upon recognized deep “wood-peckering” or exposed inner bark on the ash trees, an innuendo for the malignant beetle. The woodpecker activity is a common symptom because the birds are attracted to the larva.

e-cig

E-Cigarettes: A Shiny Alternative To Smoking?

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Smoking is cool again. Who would have thought? Just when many thought smoking was on the decline, with stomach-churning advertisements of charred lungs on public television and the preeminence of smoke-free environments, an alternative form of nicotine delivery is gaining popularity: high-tech e-cigarettes. One of the most popular of these is the JUUL, which accounts for 32 percent of the U.S. e-cigarette market share. The JUUL is about one-fifth the size of an iPhone and uses patented nicotine juice cartridges, called JUULpods.

Science

Nobel Prize Winning Technology Demonstrates Merits of Interdisciplinary Collaboration, says Cornell Prof

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Why are the most fundamental structural parts of the human body referred to as cells? Robert Hooke, the man who coined the term, thought they looked like cells in a monastery. But without a picture, this analogy would never have been possible. Microscopes, the fundamental instruments that make these pictures possible have gone a long way from 1665, when Hooke made his discoveries. Hooke looked at dead cells while today, we freeze biochemicals to view metabolic processes as they happen.

bitcoin

Cornell Researchers Highlight Ethical Lapses in Recent Cybersecurity Failures

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The internet is everywhere. From simple dial-up connections on bulky computers, the spread of internet access to watches, cameras, printers, refrigerators and televisions demonstrates the progress the computing industry has made. Connectivity is lauded for making our lives convenient and efficient. However, the increasing frequency of malware attacks and data leaks suggests that advancements in cybersecurity are not keeping pace. As a testament to this fact, on Sept.

computer vision

Deep Neural Networks Transfer The Style of an Image Onto Another

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Editing a picture to make it “Instagram worthy” can be difficult. Most simple apps have the basic filters, highlighting and exposure tools that you might expect. But apps that transform photos into a custom portrait in the style of your favorite artist need to use something more complex. This is because imposing, for example, the distinctive brushstrokes and features of Vincent can Gogh’s The Starry Night onto an average photo can often distort the structure of the image. Existing programs focus on the content and style of images, but usually do not preserve the edges and contours of the subjects photographed. This causes the final image to lose the structural details of the original photograph.

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Roots, Shoots and a Dash of Medicine

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Cornell is a gold mine of fantastic gardens, beautiful foliage and abundant flora. In just the five-minute walk from Mann Library to Rockefeller Hall, one can see trees of all sizes and a wide variety of flowers. With colorful flower blossoms in spring and large full trees in summer, the valley, campus walkways and gardens are scenic masterpieces for much of the year. But there is much more to these shrubs, leaves or grasses than meets the eye. Cancer, Alzheimer’s and Diabetes are all debilitating diseases.