Synchrotron radiation sources have enabled revolutionary applications, that are advancing understanding of the electronic and structural nature of atomic scale systems containing transition-metal atoms.

CHESS is pioneering the development of new x-ray optics and spectrometers for this purpose and a small, extremely productive community of users has grown with this capability. It is now time for a workshop focused on communicating what we have learned, building interest, and instructing a new generation of scientists on these methods.

At the lowest level, compaction is achieved by wrapping stretches of DNA around a core of histone proteins to form nucleosomes in a “beads on a string” configuration: 147 base pairs of DNA per nucleosome, with linkers of variable length between nucleosomes. The nucleosome core particle (NCP), or one “bead”, consists of 4 types of histone (H2A, H2B, H3, and H4), each of which has a compact core plus a positively-charged, flexible tail that protrudes from the core.

The paper “Dynamics and Rheology of Soft Colloidal Glasses” came out in the January 7th edition [1].

Now housed inside the Wilson Synchrotron Laboratory, the MLC is the latest addition to Cornell’s own particle accelerator located under Alumni Field.

The MLC is the product of over twenty thousand hours of work within Newman Lab, built and designed with the help of a grant from the National Science Foundation to explore technologies for use in the next generation of particle accelerators. Its seven superconducting cavities funnel energy into particle beams to help scientists study, basic building blocks of matter, solid state physics and even human biology.

Most of us have never purposely removed the innards of any computer just to see what pieces fit where, or how each complex element is intentionally connected to another. A group of students from the Greater Ithaca Activities Center are doing just that -- spending six weeks this spring removing, identifying, labeling and reassembling the hardware of old computers to learn how the major components work in synchrony as one powerful device.

However, students from the groups of Brian Korgel and Tom Truskett at the University of Texas at Austin, found just the opposite behavior in superlattices of small gold nanoparticles [1]. These consist of a 2 nm gold core surrounded by organic octodecane thiol ligands with about the same length. Upon casting from solution, these particles form superlattices with a BCC structure [2]. Similar to block copolymer micelles with sufficiently long ligands the BCC lattice is favored over the denser FCC lattice, as the entropy of the ligands is maximized [3,4].

Most commercial rechargeable batteries are based on lithium ion intercalation into layered metal oxides, the mechanism of which is fairly well understood. To move forward in the development of better electrode materials, deeper insights into heretofore unexplored methods of charge storage must be gained.

Integral membrane proteins also are notoriously hard to synthesize and study, which explains why so few have been fully, three-dimensionally characterized with protein crystallography. Using standard recombinant DNA techniques and some novel design principles, Cornell chemical engineers have developed a new method for making large quantities of integral membrane proteins simply and inexpensively – all without the use of harsh chemicals, or detergents, typically used today.

Undergraduates will model “Irradiance” – a collection of electrogarments designed by Eric Beaudette ’16, fiber science; Lina Sanchez Botero, graduate student in the field of fiber science; and Neal Reynolds, graduate student in the field of physics – on the runway at the Cornell Fashion Collective, Saturday, April 11, at 8 p.m. at Barton Hall.

Although the desire to streamline was paramount along with a responsive display that works across multiple devices, we wanted to visually highlight our users and scientists in action at the lab and sprinkle their news articles across the site. We chose a CMS platform, Drupal 8, which in addition to those and many other engaging digital experience features, allows for accessible content entry. The results of the project were revealed last month.