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Arts & Culture
Libraries launch ‘Expeditions and Discoveries’
Harvard’s Open Collections Program has launched “Expeditions and Discoveries: Sponsored Exploration and Scientific Discovery in the Modern Age.” Through the new collection, Internet users can find thousands of maps, photographs, and published materials, along with field notes, letters, and unique manuscript materials on sponsored exploration and related scientific discoveries between 1626 and 1953.
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Campus & Community
Harvard hosts Science Across the City
In a sun-drenched conference room on the second floor of Maxwell Dworkin Hall, about 40 fourth- and fifth-graders from the Elihu Greenwood and Louis Agassiz schools in Boston gathered for some hands-on experiments with Harvard graduate students.
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Health
‘Super-recognizers’ are the ones who really will never forget a face
Some people say they never forget a face, a claim now bolstered by psychologists at Harvard University who’ve discovered a group they call “super-recognizers”: those who can easily recognize someone they met in passing, even many years later.
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Science & Tech
Understanding materials to make microdevices
In the 1990s, semiconductor companies began to incorporate a wider variety of materials into the construction of computer chips, selecting materials based on how they would perform electrically and not necessarily on how they would stand up to the rigors of the manufacturing process or continued use.
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Campus & Community
Grad housing that fosters community
Many Harvard College alumni cite their life in the Houses as one of the best aspects of their undergraduate years. Living with students from diverse backgrounds who hail from different parts of the country — and different parts of the globe — leads to broadened interests, a more capacious worldview, and lifelong friendships.
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Health
Patients expect computers to play major role in health care
As President Obama calls for streamlining heath care by fully converting to electronic medical records, and as Congress prepares to debate issues of patient privacy, one question has largely gone unasked: What do patients want?
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Campus & Community
Ash Institute’s finalists for its Innovations award
The Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government (HKS) has announced the finalists for the 2009 Innovations in American Government Awards.
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Arts & Culture
How’d the Russians get the H-bomb?
Ever hear of Elugelab? Until Oct. 31, 1952, it was an island on Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. Then it vanished, consumed in the fireball of the world’s first hydrogen bomb.
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Campus & Community
Law School students lend a legal hand
On a bright May afternoon, two third-year Harvard Law School students set out on one of their regular visits to Dorchester and Mattapan. They are a slightly odd couple: Nick Hartigan, an intense, fast-talking 225-pound former running back, and David Haller, a laid-back native of Arkansas, with a slow Southern drawl. But they have been…
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Science & Tech
Looking at ‘spoiled’ Americans through an energy lens
In 1968, the United States was exporting oil. A decade later, given massive increases in domestic demand, it was importing half of this coveted fuel.
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Health
Genetic testing for breast or ovarian cancer risk may be greatly underutilized
Although a test for gene mutations known to significantly increase the risk of hereditary breast or ovarian cancer has been available for more than a decade, a new study finds…
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Health
New study assesses quality and cost of care at nation’s hospitals
Costly care isn’t necessarily better care at the nation’s hospitals. New research conducted by a team including Harvard Kennedy School Professor Amitabh Chandra represents one of the first nationwide analyses…
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Science & Tech
Scientists create custom three-dimensional structures with ‘DNA origami’
By combining the art of origami with nanotechnology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers have folded sheets of DNA into multilayered objects with dimensions thousands of times smaller than the thickness of…
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Health
Broad scientists to sequence multiple myeloma samples
The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) announced today a collaboration with the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT to systematically uncover the molecular changes underlying multiple myeloma by whole-genome sequencing…
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Health
Study finds genetic links to age of first menstrual period, menopause
Newly identified gene variants associated with the age at which females experience their first menstrual period and the onset of menopause may help shed light on the prevention of breast and endometrial cancer, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease.
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Health
Glutamine supplements show promise in treating stomach ulcers
Nearly 20 years ago, it was discovered that bacteria known as Helicobacter pylori were responsible for stomach ulcers. Since then, antibiotics have become the primary therapy used to combat the…
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Health
Researchers identify the brain’s on-off switch for fear
Harvard researchers at McLean Hospital have identified a particular protein in the brain that serves as a trigger for the body’s innate fear response. This discovery suggests a potential target…
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Arts & Culture
On the road in the fifth century: Visions of heaven, hell
During the fifth century, travelers began to depart China more frequently than ever before, venturing outward from medieval cities to explore lands in Central and South Asia. A range of individuals eagerly took to the road, writing extensively about their journeys and returning home with elaborate accounts.
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Arts & Culture
The Arsenale
“Provocative” — one of the most-used words to describe art — may be an understatement for “The Arsenale,” the thesis exhibition for students in the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies, held at the Carpenter Center.
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Arts & Culture
Not so elementary, my dear Watson
For more than a century, Sherlock Holmes, the most famous creation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, has captivated mystery fans, literary scholars, and researchers of virtually every stripe. But, as dozens of Doyle scholars and Sherlockians showed during a recent three-day symposium at Harvard, the Holmes stories represent only a small part of Doyle’s contribution…
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Campus & Community
This month in Harvard history
May 26, 1902 — The Harvard Corporation approves the construction of a temporary addition to the south side of Boylston Hall. Completed over the summer and measuring 83 by 33 feet, the add-on consists of a single large laboratory for elementary-chemistry classes and a general-use basement. The addition opens in the fall, with a stucco…
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Campus & Community
Police reports
Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending May 11. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online athttp://www.hupd.harvard.edu/.
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Arts & Culture
REISCHAUER INSTITUTE SEEKS PAPERS
The Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies is now accepting submissions for its 2009 Noma-Reischauer Prizes in Japanese Studies, given to the undergraduate and graduate students with the best essays on Japan-related topics. The submission deadline is June 30, and $3,000 will be awarded for the best graduate student essay and $2,000 for the…
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Campus & Community
Semitic Museum to host tour of ‘The Houses of Ancient Israel’
The Semitic Museum will host a lunchtime tour of “The Houses of Ancient Israel: Domestic, Royal, Divine” on May 21 at 12:15 p.m., offering a view of life in an ancient Near Eastern agricultural society. The exhibit — which displays family dwellings, palaces, and temples — is arranged in terms of the different types of…
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Campus & Community
Eck delivers Gifford Lectures
Diana Eck, Fredric Wertham Professor of Law and Psychiatry in Society and member of the faculty of divinity, recently traveled to Scotland to deliver a series of Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh (April 27-May 7). The lecture series, which was established in 1888 through the endowment of Lord Gifford to four Scottish Universities…
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Campus & Community
ROWLAND INSTITUTE NAMES TWO NEW JUNIOR FELLOWS
The Rowland Institute at Harvard has selected two new junior fellows for the institute’s fellowship program:Christopher T. Richards, a teaching fellow and research assistant in organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard, and Yuki Sato, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley.
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Campus & Community
HOLOCAUST MUSEUM NAMES SULEIMAN SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE
The Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has named Susan Rubin Suleiman to be the J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Senior Scholar-in-Residence at the museum for 2009-10.
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Campus & Community
PAULUS NOMINATIONS, RECOGNITIONS
American Repertory Theater Artistic Director Diane Paulus’ production of “Hair” has been nominated for eight Tony Awards, five Drama Desk Awards, and four Outer Critics Circle Awards (including Best Director), in addition to several Drama League Awards.
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Campus & Community
Japanese government honors Professor Edwin A. Cranston
The government of Japan announced its decision to award Edwin A. Cranston, professor of Japanese literature, the decoration of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, on April 29.