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Science & Tech
Harvard undergraduate discovers novel atomic cluster
Eighteen-year-old Kevin Chan, a member of the Harvard College Class of 2004, used a supercomputer to discover a novel arrangement of atoms that had been missed by other scientists studying such clusters. Chan made the unexpected discovery in late June 2001 while working on a summer project at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC). Chan,…
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Science & Tech
Study suggests pacemaker and defibrillator recalls on the rise
As more heart patients receive pacemakers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) generators, more recalls are being issued for the devices, according to a study led by a Harvard Medical School instructor based at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “Pacemakers and ICDs are two of the most remarkable medical and technological advances of the 20th century.…
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Health
Snack foods may increase risk of age-related sight loss
Macular degeneration results from the malfunctioning or loss of function of photo-sensitive cells in the retina. According to the Macular Degeneration Foundation, more than 13 million people in the United States are affected; a new case of adult macular degeneration is diagnosed in the U.S. every three minutes. A study in the August 2001 issue…
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Campus & Community
Time Magazine names four Harvard scientists among “America’s Best”
Four from Harvard are included in Time magazine’s select list of America’s Best in science and medicine.
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Health
Will vaccine defense help polish off tooth decay?
The key to preventing cavities in teeth lies in controlling an acid-secreting bacterium known as Streptococcus mutans that lives in the mouth. Researchers at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine believe they can prevent cavities for life by vaccinating babies against S. mutans. “If we can get the babies immunized before the bacteria have had…
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Health
Walking rhythm offers gait-way to reduce falls
Over the past 10 years, Jeffrey Hausdorff has studied thousands of steps from hundreds of feet. The Harvard Medical School assistant professor says that complex patterns hidden in an ordinary walk will reveal changes in the brain and body caused by aging and disease. To compile his gait analyses, Hausdorff uses mathematical tools used to…
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Health
Inflammatory villain turns do-gooder
Many drugs try to tame inflammation by inhibiting molecular events occurring at the beginning of the body’s own immune response. But that may thwart the body’s attempt to heal. A team of Harvard Medical School researchers says a better approach may be to enhance the activity of natural compounds that work to resolve an inflammation.…
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Health
Amniotic cells may be source of new tissue
Babies born with congenital defects often require surgery. Surgeons face a problem, however — in adults, tissue for repair is borrowed from other areas of the body, but babies don’t have enough tissue to spare. Sometimes surgeons use teflon — certainly not an ideal replacement. The laboratory of Dario Fauza, Harvard Medical School instructor in…
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Science & Tech
Study examines hazardous seating of children in fatal motor vehicle crashes
A recent study by Harvard School of Public Health scientists examined how often adults placed children in the rear of vehicles, and what factors affected that placement. The study, led by Eve Wittenberg of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, examined more than 28,000 fatal crashes between 1990 and 1998. The proportion of vehicles carrying…
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Health
Diet and exercise dramatically delay type 2 diabetes
Diabetes afflicts more than 16 million people in the United States; type 2 diabetes accounts for up to 95 percent of all diabetes cases. New findings from the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), a major clinical trial conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and 26 other medical centers nationwide, show that modifications in diet and exercise…
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Science & Tech
In Dayton, parents’ satisfaction increased by moving children to private schools
Parents in Dayton, Ohio, reported increased satisfaction after they moved their children to private schools. A private scholarship program sponsored by Parents Advancing Choice in Education (PACE), a non-profit organization in Dayton, helps low-income families afford private education.
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Health
Are you an ‘early bird’ or a ‘night owl’?
Harvard researchers working at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have found that whether someone is a morning person or an evening person depends on a basic aspect of the circadian timing system that is known as intrinsic period. The study was published in the August 2001 issue of “Behavioral Neuroscience. “While some have argued that extremes…
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Science & Tech
Study finds parents of chronically ill children avoid switching to HMOs
The incentive to switch health plans is usually a lower cost to the patient. So if parents of chronically ill children want to retain their old health plans instead of switching to health maintenance organizations (HMOs), they have to pay a higher price. Parents who are financially burdened may feel torn between getting the best…
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Science & Tech
Some video games contain more violence than parents expect
If a video game is rated “E” for “suitable for everyone,” that is supposed to be a signal to parents that the game is acceptable for their children. But a study by Harvard School of Public Health researchers found that of 55 E-rated games that they surveyed, 64 percent contained intentional violence. The average amount…
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Campus & Community
New way to “see” DNA
Extraordinarily tiny holes are behind a whole new way to make structures only a few dozen atoms in size.
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Science & Tech
Stellar apocalypse yields first evidence of water-bearing worlds beyond our solar system
The first evidence that planetary systems beyond our own contain water, a molecule that is an essential ingredient for known forms of life, was discovered recently by using the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS), a small radio observatory that NASA launched into space in December 1998. The discovery was reported in an article published in…
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Science & Tech
Dating violence linked with teen pregnancy, suicide attempts
About one in five girls experience physical or sexual dating violence, according to a new study by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, the Boston University School of Public Health and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. These girls are significantly more likely to engage in other behaviors that pose serious health risks.…
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Science & Tech
Preventing cervical cancer in developing nations
Cervical cancer kills approximately 190,000 women each year, most of them in developing nations. It is the third most common cancer world wide. Women who live in more affluent nations have access to Papanicolaou (Pap) tests, which allow pre-cancerous lesions to be detected and treated before they develop into full-blown cancer. But such screening and…
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Campus & Community
Women on the move
Since a Harvard graduate student published his Ph.D. thesis three years ago, evidence has been accumulating that women are the real movers of society, spreading their genes as they married and moved in with their husband’s families.
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Campus & Community
Haley Surti ’01, dies in accident
Haley Surti 01, died in a bus accident in Peru, on June 12. Haley was a resident of Mather House, a concentrator in biochemistry, a writer/researcher for Lets Go, and a member of the South Asian Association (choreographer and dancer), the Mather House Chamber Music Society (violinist), Kuumba, and the womens lacrosse team. She was…
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Campus & Community
This month in Harvard history
In July 2, 1641 – President Henry Dunster marries Elizabeth Glover, widow of Cambridge clergyman Jose Glover, who owned the English colonies first printing press. (In 1640, this machine had produced the Bay Psalm Book, the first book published by English colonists in America.) By 1646, the press is installed in the Presidents Lodging. Sometime…
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Campus & Community
A totem pole comes home
A century after it was given to Harvard by railroad tycoon Edward Harriman, the Tlingit totem pole that formerly stood guard in the Peabody Museums Hall of the North American Indian is returning to its original home on the coast of Alaska.
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Campus & Community
Strange sights of summer
Since summers lease hath all too short a date, why not make the most of it by catching a performance of Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream, staged in the open air of Adams House courtyard?
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Campus & Community
Harvard’s band Pops at Hatch Shell
Under the artistic direction of Thomas Everett, the Harvard Summer Pops Band will present its annual concert at the Hatch Shell on Saturday, Aug. 4, at 7 p.m. Bassoonist Dale Clark will be the guest soloist. The Harvard Summer Pops Band will also perform in Harvard Yard on Wednesday, Aug. 1, at 4 p.m.
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Campus & Community
KSG Kuwait Program announces grant awards
The Kuwait Program at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG) held its first Executive Program in Kuwait on Global Challenges and Security in the Gulf from June 11-13. The Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, the sponsor of KSGs Kuwait Program, hosted the three-day seminar. Twenty-nine senior executives from the government, military, and private…
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Campus & Community
Taylor family endows award for fairness
In an effort to encourage fairness in newspaper journalism and honor an exemplary example of fairness in news coverage, the former managers of The Boston Globe have announced the establishment of the Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Newspapers. The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard will administer the award.
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Campus & Community
HLS establishes Bob Barker endowment
Harvard Law School (HLS) has received a $500,000 gift to establish the Bob Barker Endowment Fund for the Study of Animal Rights. The fund will support teaching and research at HLS in the emerging field of animal rights law. The income generated by the gift will fund periodic courses and seminars at HLS on animal…
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Campus & Community
The science of teaching science
Last Thursday, on a day as beautiful as any this summer has offered, 14 Boston-area high school science teachers sat in the dark learning about mechanisms of cholesterol homeostasis. Later that day, they watched blood clot.
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Campus & Community
Area teens work as interns at Peabody
The Harvard Museum of Natural History (HMNH) and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology welcomed the Kush Club Summer Program on Tuesday, July 10. A youth organization established in 1989, the Kush Club is dedicated to studying and promoting public awareness about the history, culture, and artistic achievements of Africa in antiquity.