Latest news with #RoselleChen
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Martian meteorite sells for record $5.3 million at Sotheby's
By Roselle Chen NEW YORK (Reuters) -A 54-pound (24.5-kg) Martian meteorite that is the largest known piece of Mars found on Earth has sold for $5.3 million at Sotheby's, setting a new auction record for a meteorite. The auction on Wednesday for the rock known as NWA 16788 sparked a 15-minute bidding war between online and phone bidders. "This is an amazing Martian meteorite that broke off of the Martian surface," said Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby's vice-chairman and global head of science and natural history, ahead of the auction. The fragment was discovered in November 2023 by a meteorite hunter in the Sahara Desert, in Niger's remote Agadez region. "The people there knew already that it was something special," said Hatton. "It wasn't until it got to the lab and pieces were tested that we realized, 'Oh my gosh, it's Martian.' And then when those results came back and we compared and saw, OK, it's not just Martian, it is the biggest piece of Mars on the planet." About 5 million years ago, an asteroid or comet slammed into Mars so hard that rocks and other debris launched into space. "So it comes hurtling... 140 million miles through space, makes it through Earth's atmosphere," said Hatton, noting that most things burn up in our planet's atmosphere. "It's incredible that it made it through and then that it crashed in the middle of the desert instead of the middle of the ocean, in a place where we could find it, and that somebody who could recognize what it was found it. "So there's a whole kind of process or a layer of things that have to happen in order for this to become reality and be here in front of us." Just like its mother planet, NWA 16788 has a distinctly reddish hue, as well as signs of fusion crust from its violent descent through Earth's atmosphere. There are about 400 officially recognized Martian meteorites on Earth, of which NWA 16788 is by far the largest.
Express Tribune
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Trump administration freezes over $1B in funding for Cornell, Northwestern University
Columbia University students and pro-Palestine protesters march in front of Hamilton Hall in Manhattan, New York City, on May 1, 2024 [Reuters/Roselle Chen] Listen to article The Trump administration has frozen over $1 billion in funding for Cornell University and $790 million for Northwestern University while it investigates both schools over civil rights violations, a US official said on Tuesday. The funding being paused includes mostly grants and contracts with the federal departments of health, education, agriculture and defense, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to block federal funding for schools over pro-Palestinian campus protests as well as other issues such as diversity, equity and inclusion programs and transgender policies. Last month, it sent a letter to 60 universities, including Cornell and Northwestern, that it could bring enforcement actions if a review determined the schools had failed to stop what it called antisemitism. Northwestern said it was aware of media reports about the funding freeze but had not received any official notification from the government and that it has cooperated in the investigation. 'Federal funds that Northwestern receives drive innovative and life-saving research, like the recent development by Northwestern researchers of the world's smallest pacemaker, and research fueling the fight against Alzheimer's disease. This type of research is now in jeopardy,' a Northwestern spokesperson said. Cornell did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In an opinion piece in the New York Times last week, Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff said his university was not afraid to let people argue, including over issues like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Trump has attempted to crack down on pro-Palestinian campus protests against US ally Israel's devastating military assault on Gaza, which has caused a humanitarian crisis in the enclave and followed a deadly October 2023 attack by Islamist group Hamas. The US president has called the protesters antisemitic, and has labeled them as sympathetic to Hamas militants and as foreign policy threats. Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the Trump administration wrongly conflates their criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza and advocacy for Palestinian rights with antisemitism and support for Hamas. Trump crackdown on schools Human rights advocates have raised free speech and academic freedom concerns over the crackdown by the Trump administration. Last week, the US government announced a review of $9 billion in federal grants and contracts to Harvard University and has since listed conditions it must meet to receive federal money. Princeton University also said last week the government froze dozens of research grants. Last month, the Trump administration canceled $400 million in funding for Columbia University, the epicenter of last year's pro-Palestinian campus protests. Columbia agreed to some significant changes that Trump's administration demanded for talks about restoring the funding. Federal agents have also detained some foreign student protesters in recent weeks from different campuses and are working to deport them. And the government has revoked visas of many foreign students. Rights advocates have also raised concerns about Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias during the Israel-Gaza war. The Trump administration has not announced steps in response. In March, the Trump administration suspended $175 million in funding to the University of Pennsylvania over its transgender sports policies.
Express Tribune
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Columbia University punishes pro-Palestine students involved in protests
Columbia University students and pro-Palestine protesters march in front of Hamilton Hall in Manhattan, New York City, on May 1, 2024 [Reuters/Roselle Chen] Listen to article Columbia University has handed down severe punishments to pro-Palestine student protesters who protested at campus building last year during a demonstration. The punishments, which range from multi-year suspensions to expulsions and the revocation of degrees, followed a review of the protesters' actions during the April 2024 occupation of Hamilton Hall. The university did not disclose how many students were affected or identify them, citing privacy concerns. The students were part of a broader series of pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protests across the university's Manhattan campus, which included demands to end US support for Israel's actions in Gaza and for the university to divest from Israeli companies. During the occupation, protesters barricaded themselves inside Hamilton Hall but were eventually removed by police. Columbia claims the demonstrators also vandalised the building. The university stated that the punishments were based on the severity of the students' behaviour and any prior infractions. The decision to punish the students follows the recent arrest of former Columbia postgraduate student Mahmoud Khalil by US immigration authorities at the request of the US Department of State for his involvement in pro-Palestinian activism. Khalil, a permanent US resident, remains in custody in Louisiana, though his deportation has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge. This comes amid broader concerns over anti-Semitism linked to pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Last week, US President Donald Trump announced the cancellation of $400 million in federal grants and contracts due to these concerns. Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate, has filed a lawsuit against his alma mater, alongside seven other unnamed individuals, to block the university from handing over student activists' personal information to lawmakers in Washington. The lawsuit, filed on Thursday, is a response to a request from the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, led by Rep. Tim Walberg, which demanded disciplinary records from students involved in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
