Science & Tech

All Science & Tech

  • Live tracker notes COVID cases, deaths by congressional districts

    The Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies and Center for Geographic Analysis worked with Microsoft to create a live tracker that monitors the status of COVID cases, broken down by congressional district, to help officials develop testing and vaccine deployment strategies in their areas.

    COVID Map.
  • Largest set of mammalian genomes reveals species at risk of extinction

    A team of researchers analyzed and compared the genomes of more than 80 percent of all mammalian families, which captures mammalian diversity at an unprecedented scale.

    Mammals illustration.
  • The Popovich of floral nectar spurs

    Researchers discover gene controlling nectar spur development, opening door for insights into evolution.

    Ballerini image.
  • Digging into the history of the cosmos

    The main goal of Cora Dvorkin’s lab is trying to understand the nature of one of the universe’s most important and puzzling features: dark matter.

    Cora Dvorkin.
  • Touch and taste? It’s all in the suckers

    Harvard researchers uncover novel family of sensors in octopuses.

    Octopus.
  • LabXchange meets and beats challenges of remote learning

    LabXchange, a free digital-learning platform for science education, allows students, educators, scientists, and researchers to collaborate globally in an online community.

    Zoom screen for LabXchange talk.
  • Why do we get so picky about friendship late in life? Ask the chimps

    Understanding why older chimps tend to favor small circles of meaningful, established friendships rather than seek new ones may help scientists gain a better picture of what healthy human aging should look like and what triggers this social change.

    Group of chimps.
  • Enzymatic DNA synthesis sees the light

    Controlling a DNA-synthesizing enzyme with photolithographic methods from the computer chip industry facilitates multiplexed writing and storage of digital data in DNA.

    DNA binary.
  • Frère Jacques, are you sleeping?

    Researchers at Harvard’s Music Lab have determined that American infants relaxed when played lullabies that were unfamiliar and in a foreign language.

    Baby.
  • Trailblazing initiative marries ethics, tech

    Faculty from the Computer Science and Philosophy departments join forces in a successful new undergraduate initiative, Embedded EthiCS, to change the way computer scientists think about the ethical implications of new technology.

    Illustration of people making ethical decisions.
  • Pandemic academics

    A new Harvard course challenges students to use science to evaluate COVID-19 policies.

    Filter.
  • Deep learning takes on synthetic biology

    Computational algorithms enable identification and optimization of RNA-based tools for myriad applications.

    Rendering.
  • A timeline on the evolution of reptiles

    A new study by a team of Harvard-led researchers contradicts a widely held theory that major transitions in evolution always happened in big, quick (geologically speaking) bursts, triggered by major environmental shifts.

    Tiago R. Simões.
  • Six-year deluge linked to Spanish flu, World War I deaths

    A new study of ice-core data shows that an unusual, six-year period of cold temperatures and heavy rainfall coincided with European deaths during the 1918 Spanish flu.

    Carrying injured in hip-deep mud.
  • Interplanetary storm chasing

    Harvard researchers use a 3D model to figure out how a hexagon-shaped mega-storm on Saturn was formed.

  • How cells sort themselves

    Researchers have discovered a key control mechanism that cells use to self-organize in early embryonic development.

    Spinal cord development.
  • When it hits 100 degrees in Siberia …

    With the threat of extreme heat rising, from California to Siberia, we ask climate scientist Peter Huybers what to expect in the future.

    Firefighters in California,
  • Infection detection

    “Viral history” tool VirScan offers new insights into antibody response to SARS-CoV-2.

    SARS-CoV-2 particles.
  • A model of how museums can share their collections more widely

    Harvard has digitized 19th-century glass models of 15 marine invertebrates made by Rudolf and Leopold Blaschka. The 3D models are the result of between 250 to 700 images that had to be taken per glass piece.

    Octopus, Robsonella fontanianus.
  • A map of the human heart

    Highly detailed map of the human heart could guide personalized heart treatments.

    Heart cells.
  • An emergency response team for data?

    Data science provides a foundation for an important front in the battle against COVID-19. The Harvard Data Science Review, a journal of the Harvard Data Science Initiative, is helping keep data scientists connected and up to date on the latest findings.

    Xiao-Li Meng and Francesca Dominici.
  • Your shoes were made for walking. And that may be the problem

    Toe springs in shoes make walking easier but may come at a cost.

    Food in a shoe.
  • How the West became WEIRD

    In his new book Joe Henrich looks at how the West became psychologically peculiar and prosperous.

    Joseph Henrich.
  • On the clock

    Researchers have built two machine learning models that gauge biological age and predict remaining lifespan in mice.

    Two people going up stairs.
  • Viewing flattened fossils in a new light

    Harvard and Chinese scientists study Cambrian fossils using micro-CT and 3D models.

    Cambrian illustration.
  • A cool first for Harvard

    Harvard researchers become the first to cool a polyatomic molecule using light.

    Lasers.
  • Inside Harvard’s COVID tracing effort

    A look at COVID-19 contact tracing efforts at Harvard.

    Angela Sigal Poock.
  • Students use computational biology to confront COVID-19

    A team of undergrads is using computational biology to create a therapeutic that enables the body to quickly develop COVID-19 antibodies and jump-start the immune system’s battle against the disease.

    DNA origami graphic.
  • Far-out findings from the cosmos

    CfA astronomers theorize that the solar system originally had two suns as they further research a sneezing star and ‘Oumuamua.

    A binary companion the sun is shown..
  • Imagine clothing that stretches or shrinks to fit you

    SEAS researchers have developed a material made from recycled wool can be 3D-printed into any shape and pre-programmed with reversible shape memory.

    Textile changes shape.