Science & Tech

All Science & Tech

  • State of stasis

    Neuroscientists have discovered neurons that control hibernation-like behavior in mice, a finding that could translate into applications in humans, such as preventing brain injury during a stroke.

    Hibernating dormouse
  • An engineering approach to shape neuronal connections

    Precise control over neuron growth paves the way for repairing injuries, including those to the spinal cord, and improving brain models.

    Paola Arlotta.
  • A promise to a friend

    Wei Hsi “Ariel” Yeh dedicated her research in chemistry to solving some of the vast genetic mysteries behind hearing loss.

    Person wearing hearing aid.
  • The origin of things

    DNA-barcoded microbial spores can trace origin of objects, agricultural products.

    Green field.
  • Sleep, death, and… the gut?

    Fruit fly study finds death by sleep deprivation is preceded by the accumulation of unstable molecules known as reactive oxidative species in the gut.

    Pillows and sheets.
  • A new threat to bees

    Bee health experts Benjamin de Bivort and James Crall discuss the murder hornet threat and other dangers facing bees.

    Asian hornet.
  • Horizontal helper

    Cassandra Extavour and Leo Blondel provide the strongest suggestive evidence yet that at least part of a specific gene came from bacterial genomes.

    Cassandra Extavour.
  • Filling gaps in our understanding of how cities began to rise

    Genomic analysis shows long-term genetic mixing in West Asia before the rise of the world’s first cities

    Wall painting.
  • Gut microbiome influences ALS outcomes

    The researchers found that in mice with a common ALS genetic mutation, changing the gut microbiome could prevent or improve disease symptoms.

    Microscopic image showing inflammation.
  • Water beast

    New paper argues the Spinosaurus was aquatic, and powered by predatory tail.

  • CRISPR-based technology spots COVID-19

    The CRISPR-based molecular diagnostics chip’s capacity ranges from detecting a single type of virus in more than 1,000 samples at a time to searching a small number of samples for more than 160 different viruses, including the COVID-19 virus.

    Chip 1.
  • When tectonic plates began to shift

    Harvard researchers detect some of the earliest evidence for modern-like plate motion.

    Earth.
  • Wyss-designed swabs enter human trials for COVID-19

    The Wyss Institute has collaborated in the design of a new low-cost nasopharyngeal swabs that can be manufactured quickly to address the international shortage of swabs for testing and research.

    Nasal swabs.
  • In a photo of a black hole, a possible key to mysteries

    So little is known about black holes and the image hints at a path to a higher-resolution image and more and better data.

    Rings around a black hole.
  • Toward an unhackable quantum internet

    Harvard and MIT researchers have found a way to correct for signal loss with a prototype quantum node that can catch, store, and entangle bits of quantum information. The research is the missing link toward a practical quantum internet.

    Researchers working in lab.
  • Students come together with Congregate

    With the move to online classes, a group of Harvard students quickly formed a team and collaborated over spring break to develop Congregate, a web platform that enables users to host events or gatherings that are broken into many dynamically generated conversation rooms.

    The SEAS computer group.
  • ‘Faster protection with less material’

    Further research and development on a class of molecules called bisphosphonates might turbocharge a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus, and help bring immunity to huge populations more quickly.

    Professor Uli von Andrian.
  • Scientists map human protein interactions

    Scientists produce a reference map of human protein interactions, releasing data helpful for understanding diseases including cancer and infectious diseases such as COVID-19.

    Tissue-specific subnetworks.
  • Design School turns 3D printers into PPE producers

    The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) began production of personal protective equipment (PPE) on Sunday.

    Workers in Fabrication Lab.
  • Facing a pandemic, Broad does a quick pivot

    Facing a pandemic, scientific and administrative teams across the Broad Institute raced to enable coronavirus testing in a matter of days.

    Staff receiving training.
  • Capabilities of CRISPR gene editing expanded

    Investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital have modified the gene editing system, making it possible to potentially target any location across the entire human genome.

    DNA strands.
  • Learning from recovery

    Using the tool VirScan, researchers are able to detect antibodies in people’s blood that indicate active and past infections by viruses and bacteria. The goal is to learn how the virus affects the immune system.

  • ‘There will be cascading failures that get fixed on the fly’

    The massive shift from the office to remote work will test the internet in ways it hasn’t been tested before, a Harvard expert on the technology industry said, offering a real-time experiment that will likely see failures, but from which unexpected solutions will also emerge.

    View from above of city network of lights.
  • Genetic control of collective behavior

    Researchers use zebrafish to explore the connection between specific genetic mutations and group behavior.

    Zebrafish
  • Blood biopsies offer early warning of cancer’s return

    Researchers have designed personalized blood biopsies that offer the potential of an early warning signal of breast cancer recurrence.

  • i3 Center formed for advancing cancer immunotherapy

    Harvard’s Wyss Institute will collaborate with other institutions to form the i3 Center where cancer immunologists and biological engineers will develop new biomaterials-based approaches to enable anti-cancer immune-therapies for therapy-resistant cancers.

    Illustration of cancer cells.
  • Was Darwin first? Kind of depends

    Charles Darwin’s work arose in an era where many were thinking about the source of nature’s variety.

    Photograph of Charles Darwin taken around 1874 by Leonard Darwin.
  • A great civilization brought low by climate change (and, no, it’s not us)

    Human-environmental scientist says there are new clues about how and why the Maya culture collapsed.

    Professor Billie L. Turner standing in front of a slide showing rainfall.
  • From YouTube to your school

    In a new paper, Harvard researchers show for the first time that research-based online STEM demonstrations not only can teach students more, but can be just as effective as classroom teaching.

    Live demonstration.
  • What the nose knows

    Experts discuss the science of smell and how scent, emotion, and memory are intertwined — and exploited

    Illustration of a person smelling flowers.