Month: September 2015

  • Nation & World

    The state of the podcast

    The podcast, an Internet technology that had its genesis at Harvard, roars back to prominence.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A watery Mars, a changed outlook

    One of the lessons from this week’s announcement of liquid water on Mars is that the Red Planet is a much more diverse place than previously thought, one that holds a multitude of niche environments that might be more hospitable to life than average planetary conditions might indicate, said Professor Robin Wordsworth.

    7 minutes
  • Nation & World

    In its 12th year, Honan 5K still on a run

    More than 450 Harvard students, staff, and faculty crossed the Charles River on Sunday to run in the Brian J. Honan 5K, an event that has become a tradition for the Harvard community.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    New faculty plant roots

    The New Faculty Institute welcomed new teachers to campus. Part welcome exercise, part information session, part networking opportunity, the faculty forum was designed to make the 64 assistant professors, four associate professors, and 41 professors new to campus feel at home.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Inroads against leukemia

    A molecule isolated from sea sponges and later synthesized in the lab can halt the growth of cancerous cells and could open the door to a new treatment for leukemia, according to a team of Harvard researchers.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Heroin’s descent

    A report on the science of getting hooked on heroin, one in a three-part series examining addiction and new ideas for combatting it.

    12 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Two named MacArthur Fellows

    Matthew Desmond, the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences, and Beth Stevens, an assistant professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and neuroscientist at Boston Children’s Hospital, have been named MacArthur Fellows.

    8 minutes
  • Nation & World

    After Boehner

    Douglas Heye, a former top communications official with the GOP and now a fall fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics, discusses the turmoil within the Republican Party following House Speaker John Boehner’s abrupt retirement announcement.

    9 minutes
  • Nation & World

    How coffee loves us back

    Research at Harvard and elsewhere has repeatedly tied coffee consumption to health benefits.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Butter’s benefits melt away

    Harvard researchers take a 2014 paper to task and find that butter isn’t one of the good guys. Get your fats from nuts and vegetable oils instead.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Political climate, changed

    Chinese President Xi Jinping announced plans to institute a cap-and-trade program in the Asian giant by 2017. Harvard China Project leader Michael McElroy discussed the announcement and its potential effects on both climate legislation in the United States and on future climate talks in Paris.

    10 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Doctors in a hard place

    Increasingly, says a report by Harvard Law School’s Program on International Law and Armed Conflict, doctors can be charged for giving medical care to alleged terrorists.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A childlike vision artfully refined

    A new exhibit at Houghton Library spans the many pursuits of the British artist Walter Crane.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A strong start toward good health: Good choices

    Lifestyle choices remain the best way to prevent heart attack, stroke, diabetes, cancer, and cognitive decline, panelists agreed.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Europe’s crisis of conscience

    Panelists discuss the ongoing humanitarian crisis as millions of Syrian refugees fleeing civil war find disparate receptions in European nations.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Five recognized as Harvard College Professors

    Michael D. Smith, Edgerly Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, announced five new Harvard College Professors in 2015.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Green storage for green energy grows cleaner

    Harvard scientists and engineers have demonstrated an improved flow battery that can store electricity from intermittent energy sources. The battery contains nontoxic compounds, inexpensive materials, and can be cost-effective for both residential and commercial use.

    7 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Hope against disease targeting children

    Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers studying spinal muscular atrophy have found molecular changes that help trigger the genetic disease in children.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    The last companions

    A Harvard Divinity School program helps teach chaplains how to befriend and comfort the sick and the dying.

    9 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Greening the electric grid with gas turbines

    A new Harvard study pokes holes in the belief that huge quantities of storage will be needed before clean, renewable sources can make a significant dent in greenhouse-gas emissions from electricity generation.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Ups and downs of sea level

    Professor Jerry Mitrovica shed light on the dynamics of sea level rise in a talk at the Geological Lecture Hall.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Testament to Manchukuo

    A growing Harvard collection documents life and propaganda in the controversial, short-lived Asian state of Manchukuo.

    7 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Endowment posts 5.8% return

    Harvard University announced today that its endowment posted a 5.8 percent return and was valued at $37.6 billion, an all-time high, for the fiscal year that ended June 30.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    What ‘The Prize’ taught Newark, and its author

    Harvard EdCast interviews Dale Russakoff, author of “The Prize.” The Washington Post reporter, who looked at the troubled education reform story of Newark, N.J., reflected on what can be learned from its failure to provide system-wide reform.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Troubling findings on sexual assault

    In tandem with the release of findings from a national survey of college students about sexual assault, Harvard’s Task Force on the Prevention of Sexual Assault made the University’s data public Monday, including results that paint a troubling picture of sexual misconduct on campus. President Drew Faust called the survey results “deeply disturbing” and said…

    12 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Measuring assimilation

    U.S. immigrants today are assimilating as quickly or quicker than past generations of immigrants, according to a study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Pope brings ‘Francis effect’ to U.S.

    Harvard Divinity School faculty will attend two of Pope Francis’ stops during his six-day visit to the United States Sept. 22-27.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Honorable guests

    Memorial Church hosted a private ceremony for more than half of the living recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor.

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Climate test for forests

    New research on northeastern forests is examining how the earlier arrival of warm weather might clash with genetic programming tuned to lengthening days and the duration and depth of winter cold.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    History in the making

    A new collection of materials donated to Harvard Library from the José María Castañé Foundation is keenly focused on major conflicts and transformative events of the 20th century, including the Russian Revolution, the two World Wars, the Spanish Civil War, and the Cold War.

    5 minutes