Science & Tech
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Does AI understand?
It may be getting smarter, but it’s not thinking like humans (yet), say experts
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Ancient DNA solves mystery of Hungarian, Finnish language family’s origins
Parent emerged over 4,000 years ago in Siberia, farther east than many thought, then rapidly spread west
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Hot dispute over impact
Harvard team argues oldest meteorite strike to Earth may be more recent, smaller than claimed; site may offer hints on asteroid craters, life on Mars
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Long in the tooth
Research finds 18-million-year-old enamel proteins in mammal fossils, offering window into how prehistoric animals lived, evolved
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3 tech solutions to societal needs will get help moving to market
Projects targeting heart health, data demands, quantum computing win Grid Accelerator awards
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Mounting case against notion that boys are born better at math
Elizabeth Spelke studies French testing data, finds no gender gap until instruction begins
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AI can help reduce the risk of HIV in high-risk communities
Researchers have developed an AI system that can identify the people within a social network who can most effectively promote information about HIV prevention to their peers.
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Wanted: Bold ideas
The Star-Friedman Challenge for Scientific Research is ready to provide seed funding for high-risk, high-impact work in the life, physical, and social sciences. Harvard researchers have until March 1 to apply for the funding.
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The cataclysm that killed the dinosaurs
New theory explains origin of comet that killed the dinosaurs
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The science of siestas
Researchers have identified three distinct mechanisms that promote napping and found that many napping-related genes also regulate other aspects of sleep.
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How jellyfish and sea anemones know when (and when not) to sting
A team of researchers from Nicholas Bellono’s lab has discovered how the trigger system of jellyfish and sea anemones stinging works on a molecular level.
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1 in 5 deaths caused by fossil fuel emissions
A new study greatly increases estimates of the numbers killed by air pollution.
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Scientists use trilayer graphene configuration to observe more robust superconductivity
The new three-layer system opens the door for high-temperature superconductors.
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Tracking the proteins before Alzheimer’s takes hold
A team led by investigators has now developed an automated method that can identify and track the development of two key abnormal protein deposits that accumulate in the brain during the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
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Microbes are around and within us but there’s much we don’t know about them
Harvard microbial ecologists take an up-close look at mouth bacteria.
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Growing the family tree
More than one-third of the U.S. population is made up of individuals with recent ancestors from multiple continents. A new genetics tool helps uncover disease-associated gene variants in these individuals.
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Tracking an invasive ant species to its native land
Waring Trible’s research took him to Southeast Asia to unravel the origin story of the clonal raider ant, an invasive species found in various parts of the world.
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The star chemist
Junior Fellow Mireille Kamariza is an award-winning scientist and entrepreneur, who was recognized for inventing a portable, low-cost diagnostic tool to detect tuberculosis.
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What prompted Capitol rioters to violence?
The Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol over Donald Trump’s election loss stunned the country and forced many to ask what prompts people to political violence.
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High schoolers discover four exoplanets through Harvard & Smithsonian mentorship program
At the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian mentorship program, two students discovered four new exoplanets about 200-light-years away from Earth.
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Innovative tool offers hope for children with rapid-aging disease
Several hundred children worldwide live with progeria, a deadly premature aging disease.
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The neurons that hold our hidden thoughts
For the first time, neuroscientists were able to observe how individual neurons paint a rich and detailed representation of others’ beliefs, including whether they were true or not.
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Music of the spheres
Team uses data from space telescopes to create music.
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‘The most charismatic and strange of all flowering plants’
Sapria genome shows astonishing gene loss and gene theft.
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Cloudless, Jupiter-like planet discovered
The first Jupiter-like planet without clouds has been detected by astronomers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. Unlike our Jupiter, which takes nearly 12 years to orbit the sun, WASP-62b completes a rotation in just four-and-a-half days.
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Wielding a laser beam deep inside the body
Robotic engineers from Harvard’s Wyss Institute and John A. Paulson School for Engineering and Applied Science have developed a laser-steering microrobot in a miniaturized 6 by 16 millimeter package that can be integrated with existing endoscopic tools.
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Astrochemist brings search for extraterrestrial life to Center for Astrophysics
Clara Sousa-Silva, whose expertise in phosphine as a biosignature gas was key to a recent analysis that may have detected life in the clouds of Venus, has moved to the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian for the final two years of her fellowship. She discusses the finding and the broader topic of the search for life on other planets.
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Island investigations
New answers have emerged from the largest genome-wide study to date of ancient human DNA in the Americas.
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Research labs score perfect COVID safety records
Six months after reopening, Harvard’s labs report an unblemished safety record, important contributions to the state’s economy, and an array of scientific findings, albeit with the requisite frustration of operating during a pandemic.
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Researchers take closer look at serrated teeth of ancient predator
Harvard researcher finds first saber-toothed animals had dinosaur-like teeth before dinosaurs did.
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Here comes the sun
Seasonal changes in UV may alter the spread of COVID but not as much as social distancing.
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Helping your child make the best use of time online
Urs Gasser and John Palfrey are authors of the newly released book “The Connected Parent: An Expert Guide to Parenting in a Digital World.”
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Making memories
A Harvard Medical School study in mice reveals how memory neurons reorganize after new experiences.
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‘Climate Conversations’ series aims to build community, spur action
‘Climate Conversations’ series engages researchers, leaders, practitioners, and organizers to seek paths to collaboration, solutions.
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Imagine a world in which AI is in your home, at work, everywhere
Harvard’s AI+Art project aims to get people thinking about how artificial intelligence may impact our lives in the future.
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New technology to investigate autism spectrum disorder
Scientists applied the “Perturb-Seq” method to study dozens of genes that are associated with autism spectrum disorder, identifying how specific cell types in the developing mouse brain are impacted by mutations.