News

In most cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, a toxin released by cells that normally nurture neurons in the brain and spinal cord can trigger loss of the nerve cells affected in the disease, Columbia researchers reported today in the online edition of the journal Neuron. The toxin is produced by star-shaped cells called astrocytes and kills nearby motor neurons. In ALS, the death of motor neurons causes a loss of control over muscles required for movement, breathing, and swallowing. Paralysis and death usually occur within 3 years of the appearance of first…

Using a dazzling technology to watch proteins collide, clutch, and slide along strands of DNA, researchers at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons and UC-Berkeley report online in Nature that they have uncovered some of the secrets behind a powerful new genetic engineering technique.

Chris Wiggins, associate professor of applied mathematics, has just been appointed to an exciting new role at "The New York Times:" chief data scientist. 

Nima Mesgarani, assistant professor of electrical engineering, is the lead author of a new study on how speech sounds are identified by the human brain, offering an unprecedented insight into the basis of human language. 

Columbia University recruits local workers for the new Manhattanville construction and hopes to provide more jobs to minorities and women in the community. 

In his new book, Maximalist: America in the World from Truman to Obama, Professor Stephen Sestanovich’s argues that since World War II, policy makers have repeatedly miscalculated, quarreled with allies and underestimated their foes. Presidents worried that too much or too little has been done to shape events, and then set out to rectify their predecessors’ mistakes.

Ozgur Sahin, associate professor of biological sciences and physics, has developed a new machine using Legos – a prototype generator that can harness the energy of evaporation.

In spring 2010, the research icebreaker Polarstern returned from the South Pacific with a scientific treasure—ocean sediments from a largely unexplored part of the vast, remote ocean that surrounds Antarctica—the Southern Ocean.

Russia experts at Columbia’s Harriman Institute for Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies have sponsored three panel discussions related to the Sochi Olympics, one on Russian politics and two concerning the anti-gay policies of the Putin administration. A fourth, on cybersecurity and the Olympics, is scheduled for Feb. 10.

The Vilcek Foundation named Thomas M. Jessell as the winner of the 2014 Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science. 

In a study published today in the online edition of "Nature," researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) found that a mutation in the bone cells called osteoblasts, which build new bone, causes AML in mice. 

Columbia College announced today the appointment of Joseph Ayala as the new Executive Director of its Double Discovery Center, a Columbia College program that works to enhance higher education opportunities for local low-income and first-generation youth and adults between the ages of 12 and 27.

The course aims to spread to an international audience a broader understanding of the need for economic development that is socially inclusive and also protects the environment.

Sig Gissler, who helped move the Pulitzer Prizes more deeply into the digital age, will retire as administrator this summer, Columbia University announced today.

With a mission to explore and better understand the aging process and its societal implications, Columbia University has established a university-wide, interdisciplinary aging center.