With a little help from our ancient friends

By Jake Miller, Harvard Medical School Communications / January 25, 2012

The social networks of the Hadza, a group of hunter-gatherers in Tanzania, show evidence that many elements of social network structure may have been present at an early point in human history.

A winter wellness workout

By Paul Massari, Harvard Staff Writer / January 23, 2012

Dozens of Harvard undergraduates started the year with a new emphasis on wellness, thanks to the Optimal Health program. With presentations from a lifestyle medicine consultant, a nutritionist, a personal trainer, a sleep specialist, and a stress manager, Optimal Health emphasized prevention and fitness.

Planets, planets everywhere

By Alvin Powell, Harvard Staff Writer / January 19, 2012

The rapid rise in discoveries of planets circling other stars is changing astronomers’ views of the galaxy and the Earth’s place in it, giving impetus to the search for extraterrestrial life, astronomer and Radcliffe Fellow Ray Jayawardhana says.

Taste test

By Peter Reuell, Harvard Staff Writer / January 18, 2012

Using friendship data collected from Facebook, Harvard sociologists have found that people who share similar interests in music and movies are more likely to befriend one another, but that very few interests are likely to spread among friends.

Clues to addiction

By Peter Reuell, Harvard Staff Writer / January 18, 2012

Harvard scientists have developed the fullest picture yet of how neurons in the brain interact to reinforce behaviors that range from learning to drug use, a finding that could open the door to new treatments for addiction.

Map making, made easy

By Peter Reuell, Harvard Staff Writer / January 17, 2012

Developed by Harvard’s Center for Geographic Analysis, WorldMap allows scholars to create, share, and publish maps and other geospatial data.

Tumor cells can prevent tumor spread

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Communications / January 17, 2012

A new study from Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center finds that a group of little-explored cells in the tumor microenvironment likely serves as an important gatekeeper against cancer progression and metastasis.

Muffin makeover

By Todd Datz, Harvard School of Public Health Communications / January 12, 2012

Nutrition experts at HSPH and chefs and dietitians at the Culinary Institute of America have developed five muffin recipes that incorporate healthy fats and whole grains, and use a lighter hand on the salt and sugar.

Researchers develop ‘smart’ nanotherapeutics

By Twig Mowatt, Wyss Institute Communications / January 12, 2012

Research collaboration between the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Children’s Hospital Boston has developed “smart” injectable nanotherapeutics that can be programmed to selectively deliver drugs to the cells of the pancreas.

Good news for marathoners

By Sue McGreevey, Massachusetts General Hospital Public Affairs / January 11, 2012

Harvard researchers have found that those participating in marathons and half-marathons are not at an increased risk of cardiac arrest.

Reaping benefits of exercise minus the sweat

By Richard Saltus, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Communications / January 11, 2012

A team led by researchers at Harvard-affiliated Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has isolated a natural hormone from muscle cells that triggers some of the key health benefits of exercise.

Of orbits and ice ages

By Peter Reuell, Harvard Staff Writer / January 10, 2012

In a paper published in the journal Nature, Harvard Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences Peter Huybers confirms that changes in the orientation of the Earth’s spin axis have contributed to periods of major deglaciation in the past million years.

Struttin’ its stuff

By David Cameron, Harvard Medical School Communications / January 10, 2012

Harvard researchers have found that a tiny motor inside of us called dynein, one tasked with shuttling vital payloads throughout the cell’s intricate highway infrastructure, staggers, which is quite contrary to the regular, efficient poise of its fellow motors.

Nicotine letdown

By Marjorie Dwyer, Harvard School of Public Health Communications / January 9, 2012

Nicotine replacement therapies did not improve smokers’ chances of long-term cessation in a study by researchers at Harvard and UMass.

Age-related effects of MS may prove reversible

By Scott Edwards, Joslin Diabetes Center Communications / January 6, 2012

In a new study, Harvard stem cell researchers and scientists at the University of Cambridge have found that the age-related degeneration in conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS) may be reversible.

Reading life’s building blocks

By Peter Reuell, Harvard Staff Writer / January 5, 2012

A team led by Harvard researcher Charles Lieber has for the first time succeeded in creating a device that opens the door to using tiny holes called nanopores in an electrically charged membrane to quickly and easily sequence DNA.

A possible aid for navigators

By Peter Reuell, Harvard Staff Writer / December 21, 2011

John Huth, the creator of the popular “Primitive Navigation” course, spent most of last summer investigating a mysterious phenomenon called “underwater lightning,” which some say can be used as a navigational tool.

Alien worlds, just like home

By Peter Reuell, Harvard Staff Writer / December 20, 2011

Harvard astronomers, working as part of NASA’s Kepler mission, have detected the first Earth-sized planets orbiting a distant star, a milestone in the hunt for alien worlds that brings scientists one step closer to their ultimate goal of finding a twin Earth.

Use, abuse of Internet pharmacies

By Sue McGreevey, Masschusetts General Hospital Public Affairs / December 19, 2011

Efforts to halt the growing abuse of prescription drugs must include addressing the availability of these drugs on the Internet and increasing physician awareness of the dangers posed by Internet pharmacies.

Health reform in the crosshairs

By Alvin Powell, Harvard Staff Writer / December 19, 2011

With health care costs set to gobble up more of the federal budget, analysts say that additional reforms are inevitable, though national indecision over what they should look like could mean a rocky path ahead.