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Next month, a European rocket carrying the James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to launch into space. In this New Yorker article, read about lead scientists, including Cornell's Nikole Lewis, who will work with the JWST’s NIRSpec (near-infrared spectrograph) instrument.Read the full story in The New Yorker.
/news/nasas-new-telescope-will-show-us-infancy-universe
NASA’s Dragonfly mission, which will send a rotorcraft relocatable lander to Titan’s surface in the mid-2030s, will be the first mission to explore the surface of Titan, and it has big goals.
/news/dragonfly-mission-titan-announces-big-science-goals
“Those bright reflections have been big news over the last few years because they were initially interpreted as liquid water below the ice.”
/news/mars-bright-south-pole-reflections-may-be-clay-not-water
Dong Lai, M.S. ’91, Ph.D. ’94, professor of astronomy, has won Cornell’s inaugural Provost Award for Teaching Excellence in Graduate and Professional Degree Programs.
/news/lai-and-mish-win-initial-graduate-professional-teaching-prizeScientists last autumn revealed that the gas phosphine was found in trace amounts in Venus’ upper atmosphere. That discovery promised the slim possibility that phosphine serves as a biological signature for the hot, toxic planet.Now Cornell scientists say the phosphine’s chemical fingerprints support a different and important scientific find:...
/news/trace-gas-phosphine-points-volcanic-activity-venus-0
Cornell astronomers say the detection of phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus shows evidence of explosive volcanoes on the mysterious planet.
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Scientists at Cornell and the American Museum of Natural History have identified 2,034 nearby star-systems – within the small cosmic distance of 326 light-years – that could find Earth merely by watching our pale blue dot cross our sun.That’s 1,715 star-systems that could have spotted Earth since human civilization blossomed about 5,000 years ago...
/news/exoplanets-get-cosmic-front-row-seat-find-backlit-earth-0
In an op-ed on CNN, Lisa Kaltenegger explains how she and other astronomers look for life beyond Earth – and how technologically advanced extraterrestrials might look for us.
/news/could-alien-astronomers-have-spotted-earth
Professor Nikole Lewis is one of four faculty winners of the 2021 GPSA Faculty Teaching, Advising, and Mentorship Award. This highly competitive award, given by the Graduate and Professional Student Association each year, recognizes outstanding faculty who excel in their teaching, mentorship, and advising of graduate and professional students....
/news/professor-nikole-lewis-wins-award
In this CNN Opinion article, Prof. Lisa Kaltenegger addresses the questions "Where might there be life beyond Earth? And what signs should we be looking for that would help us find it?", and talks about new technology on the horizon that will seek answers to these questions.Read the CNN Opinion article here.
/news/could-alien-astronomers-have-spotted-earth-0