Science & Tech

All Science & Tech

  • 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.
  • Differing diets of bonobo groups offer insights into how culture is created

    According to new study, bonobo hunting tendencies show proof of culture

    Bonobos together on a limb.
  • Where the wild things are — now that humans are locked down

    Researchers led by Christian Rutz, 2019–2020 Grass Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, are examining human impact on wildlife using data collected during the pandemic quarantine.

    White stork.
  • Synthetic lining in small intestine may help treat diabetes, obesity

    Researchers have developed a synthetic lining that could deliver drugs in a sustained way to the small intestine, offering hope for those suffering from lactose intolerance, diabetes, and obesity.

    Small intestine.
  • Cutting surgical robots down to size

    In a collaboration between Harvard and Sony, engineers have brought surgical robotics down to the microscale by creating a new, origami-inspired miniature manipulator to improve precision and control.

    The mini-RCM is controlled by three linear actuators.
  • How caffeine changed the world

    The seductive powers, dark history, health benefits, and harmful side effects of the world’s most-used drug, are included in Michael Pollan’s new audiobook, “Caffeine: How Coffee and Tea Created the Modern World.”

    Cups of coffee
  • Putting a crown on OMNIVAX

    A biomaterials-based infection vaccine strategy shows first promise in eliciting immunity against SARS-CoV-2 and could be applied broadly to stave off infectious disease.

    Omnivax protein.
  • 7 million face shields and counting

    The Wyss Institute made improvements to its face shields based on recommendations from area hospitals. Joining forces with a Mansfield, Mass.-based manufacturer, the institute’s face shields are now being produced at a rate of 400,000 a day.

    Dome shield.
  • Quieting the storm

    Acupuncture activates inflammation-regulating pathways, tames cytokine storm in mice.

    Person receiving acupuncture.
  • Linking sight and movement

    Harvard neuroscientists look at how movement influences vision and perception.

    Rat brain scan.
  • A new way to target resistant cancer

    Harvard University researchers have identified a unique characteristic of the resistant cancer cells, which could lead to an inhibitor can be repurposed and combined with chemotherapy to improve patient outcomes.

    Bone marrow showing leukemia cells.
  • Emily Balskus wins $1M Waterman Award

    Emily Balskus has won the Alan T. Waterman Award, the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious prize for scientists under 40 in the United States.

    Emily Balskus
  • How plants adapt to climate change

    Researchers at the Arnold Arboretum are studying how maple trees are adapting to climate change.

    Collecting from red maple trees.
  • In a warming world, New England’s trees are storing more carbon

    The rate at which carbon is captured from the atmosphere at Harvard Forest nearly doubled between 1992 and 2015, a 25-year study reveals.

    Prospect Hill tower that collects data.
  • New species in an urban ecosystem (read: solar panel)

    A new species of bacteria, one that makes its home on the relatively hot and dry surface of a solar panel, was discovered recently at the Arnold Arboretum, offering a lesson that nature’s reach extends even to the artificial.

    Researchers getting samples off solar panels.