Health

A sophisticated examination of teeth from 11 Neanderthal and early human fossils suggests that modern humans’ slow development and long childhood are recent and unique to our own species, and may have given early humans an evolutionary advantage over Neanderthals.

Researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital have shown that those who start using marijuana at a young age are more impaired on tests of cognitive function than those who start smoking at a later age.

A noninvasive electric stimulation technique administered to both sides of the brain can help stroke patients who have lost motor skills in their hands and arms, according to a new study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

People spend 46.9 percent of their waking hours thinking about something other than what they’re doing, and this mind wandering typically makes them unhappy, according to research by Harvard psychologists Matthew A. Killingsworth and Daniel T. Gilbert.

Progress on several fronts has raised optimism about the possibility of achieving an effective AIDS vaccine in the coming years, a speaker at the Harvard School of Public Health said Tuesday (Nov. 9).

Heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases are becoming enormous problems in the developing world and need more attention even as the challenge of fighting infectious diseases like AIDS shows no sign of abating, according to Institute of Medicine President Harvey Fineberg.

Using a real-time imaging system, scientists have tracked a group of near-infrared fluorescent nanoparticles from the airspaces of the lungs into the body and out again, providing a description of the characteristics and behavior of the particles that could be used in developing therapeutic agents to treat pulmonary disease.

Authorities on global health and surgery gathered Nov. 5 to discuss how to address the lack of trained surgeons and adequate operating rooms in developing nations.

An interdisciplinary group of leading Harvard geneticists and stem cell researchers has found a new genetic aspect of cell reprogramming that may ultimately help in the fine-tuning of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) into specific cell types.

Researchers at Harvard University say America’s obesity epidemic won’t plateau until at least 42 percent of adults are obese, an estimate derived by applying mathematical modeling to 40 years of Framingham Heart Study data.

Assistant professor Arkhat Abzhanov looks to birds’ relatives by way of dinosaurs — alligators — for clues to their evolution.

Bertarelli Foundation brings together Harvard Medical School and Swiss University EPFL to create joint neuroengineering program.

Backed by a $30 million gift, Harvard Medical School’s unit will serve as a docking point for students, residents, fellows, and faculty from across HMS and its affiliated teaching hospitals.

An initial study of a new treatment for a form of lung cancer seems so promising it has been jumped from Phase 1 to Phase 3 clinical trials.

Inspired by his experience in the 2005 New York Marathon, an M.D./Ph.D. student has taken a rigorous approach to calculating just how much carbohydrate a runner needs to fuel himself or herself through 26.2 miles, and what pace that runner can reasonably expect to sustain.

A philosophy professor’s summer of diving in Sydney Harbour has gotten him thinking about what octopus intelligence might mean.

Harvard researchers have found that as many as 50 percent of young girls treated for germ cell ovarian tumors might be spared chemotherapy using a “watch and wait” strategy to determine if the follow-up treatment is needed.

Harvard neurobiologists have created mice that can “smell” light, providing a new tool that could help researchers better understand complex perception systems that do not lend themselves to easy study with traditional methods.

Harvard researchers have found a molecular switch that may someday make it possible to get a tan without exposure to harmful UV rays.

Joshua Sharfstein, the Food and Drug Administration’s principal deputy commissioner, talked about tobacco control and the agency’s role in keeping Americans healthy.

Unlike previous investigations, which examined fat cells at a single static time point, this new study mapped several histone modifications throughout the course of fat cell development. With these new findings researchers now have a better understanding of normal fat cell development, and going forward, they can compare normal fat cells with fat cells in disease states.

Researchers have identified 18 gene sites associated with obesity and 13 associated with body fat distribution, helping to unravel the riddle of obesity.

In a new finding from Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), researchers identify a link between Parkinson’s disease onset and dysfunctional activity of energy genes in the brain and identify a potential therapeutic target to reverse this energy gene failure.

Matthew Nock is a new professor of psychology at Harvard who uses scientific research to try to determine which medical treatments help to prevent suicide.

Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital are launching a study of 100,000 patients to determine the link among genetics, lifestyle, and environmental factors in causing disease.

Researchers at Harvard-affiliated Children’s Hospital Boston and UMass studied energy expenditure and enjoyment in schoolyard play, finding a menu of games to address childhood obesity.

A group of Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers has made such a significant leap forward in reprogramming human adult cells that HSCI co-director Douglas Melton said the institute will immediately begin using the new method to make patient- and disease-specific induced pluripotent stem cells, known as iPS cells.

New mathematical modeling by scientists from Harvard and other institutions reinforces the view of cancer as a complex culmination of many mutations.

A large, multidisciplinary panel has recently selected 12 pioneering ideas for attacking type 1 diabetes, ideas selected through a crowdsourcing experiment called the “Challenge,” in which all members of the Harvard community, as well as members of the general public, were invited to answer the question: What do we not know to cure type 1 diabetes?

Researchers discover how fungi developed an aerodynamic way to reduce drag on their spores so as to spread them as high and as far as possible.