All articles


  • Health

    Rewinding the brain

    Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology Paola Arlotta is seeking to develop a new tool to understanding brain function and dysfunction: self-generating brain organoids.

    Paola Arlotta.
  • Arts & Culture

    Stage-worthy shop talk

    Playwright Inua Ellams talks about the research behind “Barber Shop Chronicles,” which is at the American Repertory Theater through Jan. 5.

    Patrice Naiambana and Tuwaine Barrett in Barber Shop Chronicles.
  • Health

    A nation nearer to the grave

    Against a backdrop of recent jumps in drug overdose deaths and suicide, McLean Hospital psychologist R. Kathryn McHugh discusses the opioid crisis and increasing suicide deaths with the Gazette.

    A fentanyl user holds a needle.
  • Health

    The mystery of the medicine man

    A paper published earlier this year argues that shamanism develops as specialists compete to provide magical services to people in their communities, and the outcome is a set of traditions that hacks people’s psychological biases to convince them that they can control the uncertain.

    A shaman squatting
  • Science & Tech

    Life, with another ingredient

    In a paper published in PNAS, Jack W. Szostak, professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard, along with graduate student Seohyun (Chris) Kim, suggest that RNA could have started with a different set of nucleotide bases. In place of guanine, RNA could have relied on a surrogate, inosine.

    Jack W. Szostak.
  • Campus & Community

    A year in, University Accessibility Committee outlines progress, goals

    Last fall, Harvard’s Office of the Provost convened the first meeting of the University Accessibility Committee to share successful practices. The committee identified three main areas for its work: the student experience, digital technology, and on-campus facilities.

    Views at dusk of the Charles River, the Weeks Footbridge,
  • Campus & Community

    Richard Pipes, 94

    At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on December 4, 2018, the following tribute to the life and service of the late Richard Edgar Pipes was placed upon the permanent records of the Faculty.

  • Campus & Community

    Warner Berthoff, 93

    At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on December 4, 2018, the following tribute to the life and service of the late Warner Bement Berthoff was placed upon the permanent records of the Faculty.

  • Campus & Community

    This fall, a library for all

    This fall, for the first time, all students enrolled at the Extension School have access to the same library services and spaces as students in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

    Students talking to librarian
  • Nation & World

    A lesson for every listener

    Members of the Harvard community heard different messages as Malala Yousafzai accepted the 2018 Gleitsman Award.

    Malala Yousafzai and Samantha Power sitting on stage
  • Nation & World

    New congressional members at Harvard

    Fresh from their 2018 midterm victories, 63 newly elected members of Congress spent two days at Harvard Kennedy School this week engaging with students and getting an intensive primer from faculty and special guests on what to expect when they take their seats in January.

    Larry Bacow speaks with Chrissy Houlahan, Elissa Slotkin, Elaine Luria, Mikie Sherrill, and Kim Schrier.
  • Health

    Even among the insured, cost of illness can be devastating

    Professor Robert Blendon of Harvard Chan School led discussion of a new poll that shows devastating costs in serious illness even among patients with health insurance.

    Harvard Chan School forum on Seriously Ill in America: Panelists Toyin Ajayi, Robert Master, Eric Schneider, Robert Blendon.
  • Health

    10 dental grads give a nation something to smile about

    Rwanda has a population of more than 12 million people and fewer than 40 registered dentists. This past fall, 10 graduates with a bachelor’s degrees in dental surgery joined their ranks, thanks in part to Harvard School of Dental Medicine.

    University of Rwanda dental students graduating
  • Campus & Community

    Merkel named Harvard Commencement speaker

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be the principal speaker at the Afternoon Program of Harvard’s 368th Commencement.

    Angela Merkel.
  • Health

    Sebelius sees steady march toward universal health coverage

    Former health and human services secretary Kathleen Sebelius gave the keynote at a Harvard Medical School event marking the 30th anniversary of the Department of Health Care Policy.

    Health Care Policy 30th Anniversary Symposium.
  • Campus & Community

    In San Diego, Bacow stresses learning, New teaches poetry

    Harvard President Larry Bacow talked with alumni and discussed the power of higher education with high school students in San Diego as he continued his visits around the country.

    Group photo with Larry Bacow and Elisa New at at Health Science High and Middle College in San Diego.
  • Science & Tech

    Replacing hard parts in soft robots

    Harvard scientists have created a soft valve that could replace “hard” valves and lead to the creation of entirely soft robots. The valve’s structure can also be used to produce unique, oscillatory behavior.

    Soft robot.
  • Nation & World

    Yes, you can change the world, says Bryan Stevenson

    When lawyer and social activist Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, spoke at the Kennedy School Tuesday, his topic was nothing less than changing the world, something that he urged everyone in the capacity crowd to think of as both a responsibility and a possibility.

    Bryan Stevenson at the Kennedy School.
  • Nation & World

    Lies we can’t live without

    NYU philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah will draw from his new book, “The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity,” when he visits Harvard Medical School to deliver the 2018 George W. Gay Lecture.

    Kwame Anthony Appiah in front of a wooden wall
  • Nation & World

    The view from inside Facebook

    Monika Bickert, the head of global policy management for Facebook, discussed the social media giant’s policies and evolution with Harvard’s Jonathan Zittrain.

    Monika Bickert and Jonathan Zittrain looking up at a screen
  • Campus & Community

    New Marshall scholars gaze ahead

    Four Harvard seniors, among the students selected this week as Marshall scholars, ponder their future. Their scholarships pay for two years of advanced study at a college or university of their choice in the United Kingdom.

    Vaibhav Mohanty, Lyndon Hanrahan, Justin Lee, Manuel Medrano.
  • Nation & World

    Getting from no nuclear to slow nuclear

    Environmental fellow Michael Ford and climate scientist Daniel Schrag say that improved nuclear power could play an important role in U.S. energy production midcentury and beyond.

    Michael Ford and Daniel Schrag.
  • Campus & Community

    New faculty: Teju Cole

    Teju Cole, author of “Open City” and “Every Day Is for the Thief,” will teach creative writing as the first Gore Vidal Professor of the Practice.

    Teju Cole.
  • Campus & Community

    Four Harvard seniors headed to UK

    Four Harvard seniors have been awarded Marshall Scholarships to cover two years of postgraduate studies in the U.K.

    Harvard Campus with students walking
  • Campus & Community

    Finding perspective in the unexpected

    Midyear graduates share lessons learned, both at Harvard and during time away.

    Hanaa Masalmeh, Audria Amirian, and Carolina Brettler.
  • Science & Tech

    Reading teeth

    By examining the teeth of Neanderthal infants, a team of researchers was able to glean insight into nursing and weaning behavior as well as winter and summer cycles. The study even found evidence that the Neanderthals had been exposed to lead — the earliest such exposure ever recorded in any human ancestor.

  • Campus & Community

    A model of efficiency

    Renovation complete, HouseZero opens as an office space with an ambitious goal: to produce more energy than it uses over its lifetime. It’s also a research tool for the Harvard Center for Green Building and Cities.

    Exterior HouseZero.
  • Science & Tech

    How mammals grew diverse

    Using a detailed, musculoskeletal model of an echidna forelimb, Harvard scientists are not only shedding light on how the little-studied echidna’s forelimbs work, but also opening a window into understanding how extinct mammals might have used those limbs.

    Echidna on the prowl.
  • Science & Tech

    Shining a light on quantum bits

    A Ph.D. student working in the lab of Professor Mikhail Lukin, co-director of the Quantum Science and Engineering Initiative, has demonstrated a method for engineering an interaction between two qubits using photons.

    A crystal with lasers going through it
  • Work & Economy

    From Harvard to the IMF

    The International Monetary Fund’s new chief economist, Harvard’s John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and of Economics Gita Gopinath, reflects on the tough tasks ahead.

    Gita Gopinath in her Littauer Building office at Harvard.