David PesciDecember 2, 20113min
In the summer of 2010 Craig Malamut traveled to the Easter Islands to study and photograph a rare solar eclipse. Soon after his eclipse observations were completed, NASA used one of his photographs in their official materials on the event. He also spent a week collaborating with astronomers from the University of Chile in Santiago to study Pluto’s atmosphere as it obscured the light from a faint star. This year, Malamut has coauthored two papers for astronomical journals and is analyzing data from the Hubble Space Telescope on gas and dust clouds lying near the sun and other nearby stars.…

Olivia DrakeDecember 2, 20112min
At 1 a.m. on Nov. 15, the New York Police Department began clearing Manhattan's Zuccotti Park of all Occupy Movement protestors. About 70 protesters and eight credentialed journalists were arrested that morning. From his dorm room in Lo-Rise Residence Hall, sociology major Ben Doernberg '13, followed the police raid through Twitter and various news sites. For eight hours, he tracked the story online. Although he was 100 miles away from Zucotti Park, Doernberg, an active supporter of the Occupy Movement, served as a "citizen journalist" from his laptop at Wesleyan. He used the new social media site Storify to re-post…

Benjamin TraversDecember 2, 20111min
In the video below, Laura Grabel, Lauren B. Dachs Professor of Science in Society, professor of biology, discusses teaching cell biology, her research into neurogenesis of embryonic stem cells, fate of embryonic stem cell-derived transplants in the brain, and cell migration in the early embryo: [youtube width="640" height="420"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2O3P97vnu8&feature=relmfu[/youtube]

Olivia DrakeDecember 2, 20113min
For 40 years, Alvin Lucier, the John Spencer Camp Professor of Music, emeritus, has pioneered music composition and performance, including the notation of performers’ physical gestures, the use of brain waves in live performance, the generation of visual imagery by sound in vibrating media, and the evocation of room acoustics for musical purposes. On Nov. 4-6, the Music Department and Center for the Arts celebrated Lucier’s remarkable musical career and contributions. Lucier retired in June 2010. Photos of the event are below. (Information provided by Andy Chatfield, press and marketing manager for the CFA) (more…)