For now, the Shinnecock experiment has succeeded in saving their land from being devoured by the sea, Dorothy Peteet, a paleoclimatologist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, observed on a recent visit.

“We must find a more sustainable way from a Co2 point of view to produce what we need to produce,” said Columbia scientist Marco Tedesco. “It will have to come from renewable sources, alternative energies, and more effort put into carbon sequestration.

Research by Columbia University and Harvard University scientists found butterfly wings contain complex thermodynamic structures that can teach us to make efficient—and colorful—cooling materials.

Brian Greene’s main idea, his own grand, unified theory of human endeavor, is that we want to transcend death by attaching ourselves to something permanent that will outlast us.

“There’s a lot of published numbers that are ridiculous, and you have to go and figure out where they came from,” said Andrew Gelman, professor of statistics and political science and member of the Data Science Institute at Columbia University.

After the birth of her son four years ago, Columbia University climate scientist Kate Marvel experienced what she calls “a very profound revelation.”

“This is the foreshadowing of what is to come,” said Maureen Raymo, a research professor in the department of earth and environmental sciences at Columbia University. “It’s exactly in line of what we’ve been seeing for decades.”