On Friday, Polar Lander descent camera will capture Martian surface as never seen before: from only a few feet up

For just under two minutes a camera directed toward the south polar region of Mars will capture and store a series of about 20 images unique in the annals of planetary exploration: the surface of a planet (other than the moon) as seen from altitudes ranging from about 4 miles to only about 30 feet.

Cornell's Scott McMillin shares Sohmer-Hall prize with collaborator Sally-Beth MacLean of University of Toronto

Scott McMillin, Cornell professor of English, has been awarded the Sohmer-Hall Prize for outstanding work in early English theater and staging. McMillin shares the honor with Sally-Beth MacLean at the University of Toronto for collaboration on their book.

Creativity, dissidence and autobiography are topics for Egyptian authors Nawal el Saadawi and Sherif Hetata in Nov. 29 Cornell talk

The Cornell Lectures Series will present a symposium, "Creativity, Dissidence and Autobiography: Two Egyptian Voices," with Nawal el Saadawi and Sherif Hetata on Nov. 29, at 3 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium of Goldwin Smith Hall.

BTI scientist to receive Silverstein-Simeone Award for Outstanding Research in Chemical Ecology

The International Society of Chemical Ecology will present Alan Renwick, a senior scientist at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research Inc., with the Silverstein-Simeone Award for Outstanding Research Chemical Ecology at its international meeting in Marseille, France, on Nov. 16.

It's the 25th anniversary of Earth's first attempt to phone E.T.

Twenty-five years ago next week, humanity sent its first and only deliberate radio message to extraterrestrials. Nobody has called back yet, but that's OK -- we weren't really expecting an answer. (November 12, 1999)

Unlocking the mystery of human taste: U.S. scientist to lecture in Marseille

Alan Renwick, a senior scientist at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Inc., located on the Cornell campus, will lecture in Marseille, France, Nov. 16, on how plant chemicals change the taste sensation for insects.

A teachers' teacher, Cornell geneticist Rita Calvo receives top biology award

The National Association of Biology Teachers' 1999 Four-year College and University Teaching Award has been conferred on Rita A. Calvo, director of the Cornell Institute for Biology Teachers and a senior lecturer in molecular biology and genetics.

Author Tim O'Brien both reads from and discusses his writing

Baseball might be America's pastime, but last week more than 500 people skipped the early innings of the World Series opener to catch a reading by author Tim O'Brien.

Klaus W. Beyenbach, Cornell physiologist, to receive Germany's Order of Merit award

Germany's highest civilian award, the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Officer of the Cross of the Order of Merit), will be conferred on Klaus W. Beyenbach, Cornell professor of physiology.