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Taking the long view on infrastructure
HarvardScience
By: Colin Durrant/
May 10, 2012
New tool to battle illegal trade in animals
Harvard’s Center for Geographic Analysis will work with United Nations University on a system that will allow users to track and map wildlife crime, and how it is related to a host of socioeconomic factors.
Cutting calories before cutting in surgery
Strongly restricted diets have already been shown to increase longevity and prolong one’s healthy years, but research highlighted at a Harvard Global Health Institute symposium at the Harvard School of Public Health shows that the benefits of such restriction may extend to more rapid recovery from surgery and an improved ability to fight disease.
A landmark effort to sequence the genome of the butterfly Heliconius melpomene has revealed that it shares genes that control color patterns with two species that closely mimic its appearance — Heliconius timareta and Heliconius elevatus — suggesting that all three exchange genes as a result of occasional hybridization.
Supermassive black holes snack infrequently, making the recent discovery of a black hole in the act of feeding all the more interesting to astronomers.
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Researchers at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital have uncovered a new way that animals detect pathogens, by detecting disruptions of critical cellular processes.
Thinking about health as an investor might
A “proof-of-concept” study that applies financial portfolio theory to federal life science research funding shows that potentially significant gains are available by altering the allocation of funding by the National Institutes of Health.
Sharing design, in all its forms
The first Design Fair at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) displayed the wealth of ideas that have emerged at SEAS throughout this past academic year.
Flavonoid compound can prevent blood clots
Harvard researchers have shown that a compound called rutin, commonly found in fruits and vegetables and sold over the counter as a dietary supplement, inhibits the formation of blood clots in an animal model of thrombosis.
The whys of religion vs. evolution
University of Chicago evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne says that dysfunction within American society promotes high levels of religious belief that in turn blocks general acceptance of evolutionary theories.
When good cholesterol goes bad
A new study by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers has found that a subclass of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the so-called good cholesterol, may not protect against coronary heart disease (CHD) and in fact may be harmful.
A training lifeline for rescuers
The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative has launched a new academy to formalize instruction in international disaster response, with the aim of saving the lives of those threatened by earthquakes, floods, wars, and other catastrophes.
Nicholas Christakis, whose research explores how everything from obesity to smoking to happiness spreads among our social networks, is turning his attention to the past, exploring why and how we became the social animals we are.
From Iraq and back, via 9/11 and Harvard
A Harvard authority on ancient Iraq spent several years studying clay tablets looted from that nation, which had been stored in a World Trade Center building that was destroyed on 9/11. The tablets eventually were retrieved, restored, translated, and returned.
A Harvard engineering class helps find a metric for a computer scheme that tracks gang violence.
The mitotic spindle, an apparatus that segregates chromosomes during cell division, may be more complex than the standard textbook picture suggests, according to researchers at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
‘Warming hole’ delayed climate change
Climate scientists at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have discovered that particulate pollution in the late 20th century created a "warming hole" over the eastern United States — that is, a cold patch where the effects of global warming were temporarily obscured.
Steven Raichlen, author of “The Barbecue Bible” and “Planet Barbecue,” discussed on barbecue’s origins among early humans and barbecue customs around the world in a recent Harvard talk.
A new study by Harvard researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) finds that a high intake of flavonoid-rich berries, such as strawberries and blueberries, over time, can delay memory decline in older women by two and a half years.
Two of Harvard’s leading social scientists discussed the way that humans make decisions, and whether having more choices really makes us happier.
Harvard researchers have identified pathways of naturally occurring molecules in our bodies that can enhance antibiotic performance.
Executives from a leading debris-recovery firm, Phillips & Jordan Inc., were at Harvard on April 19 to discuss challenges and lessons learned in two decades of aiding the biggest cleanup efforts in the United States.
Researchers at Harvard have shown that Nodal and Lefty — two proteins linked to the regulation of asymmetry in vertebrates and the development of precursor cells for internal organs — fit a mathematical model first described by Alan Turing six decades ago.
Illuminating carbon’s climate effects
Harvard researchers compiled ice and sedimentary core samples collected from dozens of locations around the world, and found evidence that while changes in Earth’s orbit may have touched off a warming trend, increases in CO2 played a far more important role in pushing the planet out of the ice age.
Earth’s sister in the crosshairs
A new book by Harvard astronomer Dimitar Sasselov explains the revolution in understanding the universe that views life as a natural part of planetary evolution and that has researchers on the brink of finding worlds that echo this one.
Multimedia Features
Stem cells: Mending a broken heart?
Dr. Kenneth Chien speaks about a cardiac stem cell discovery that may be the first step on the path to regenerating healthy heart muscle.
Video
2:30 run time
April 19, 2012
At last, the edible science fair
Video / Dec 8, '10
Harvard Medical School researchers crawl a neural network
Video / Mar 9, '11
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