Science & Tech
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Mapping our deep-rooted relationship with medicinal plants
Regions with longer histories of human settlement tend to have greater variety, study finds
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Technically, it’s possible. Ethically, it’s complicated.
Surge in AI use heightens demand for Harvard program that examines social consequences of computer science work
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Solving mystery at tip of South America
Study finds previously unknown ancient lineage of indigenous people, which gave rise to surprisingly diverse mix of cultures
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Is AI dulling our minds?
Experts weigh in on whether tech poses threat to critical thinking, pointing to cautionary tales in use of other cognitive labor tools
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A potential quantum leap
Harvard physicists unveil system to solve long-standing barrier to new generation of supercomputers
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No one knows the answer, and that’s the point
‘Genuinely Hard Problems’ pilots novel approach to scientific education
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Picture-perfect approach to science
After creating a 3-D language called quon, which could be used to understand concepts related to quantum information theory, Harvard mathematicians now say the language offers tantalizing hints that it could offer insight into a host of other areas in mathematics, from algebra to Fourier analysis, and in theoretical physics from statistical physics to string theory.
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Onward and upward, robots
The first article in a series on cutting-edge research at Harvard explores advances in robotics.
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Origami-inspired robot combines precision with speed
A Harvard team has created the milliDelta robot, which can operate with high speed, force, and micrometer precision, making it ideal for retinal microsurgeries performed on the human eye.
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Beauty in the eye of the microscope
Through these images from Harvard researchers, the ordinary becomes extraordinary.
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OpenScholar forms startup
OpenScholar will become a startup to expand University’s versatile web-publishing platform to next level.
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For answers on coral conservation, she followed the fish
A new study suggests that efforts to restore coral reefs have a positive impact on fish populations, both short- and long-term.
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As climate changes, so will wine grapes
Though vineyards might be able to counteract some effects of climate change by planting lesser-known grape varieties, scientists and vintners need a better understanding of the wide diversity of grapes and their adaptions.
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Single metalens focuses all colors of the rainbow in one point
Harvard researchers have created the next generation of flat lenses, developing a “metalens” that can focus all the colors of the spectrum at the same time. The new design opens up the field for wearable optic devices.
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Study uncovers botanical bias
Climate change studies that rely on herbarium collections need to account for biases in the data, new research says.
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Improved image of supermassive black hole
Improved image allows astronomers to follow filament much closer to the galaxy’s central black hole.
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How tall trees move sugars
A nine-member team of scientists, mostly from Harvard, has discovered that the hydraulic resistance to moving sugar-rich sap downward from the leaves of tall trees does not increase with the length of the tree as much as would be expected.
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Single-stranded DNA and RNA origami go live
For the first time, researchers have enabled the design of complex single-stranded DNA and RNA origami that can autonomously fold into diverse, stable, user-defined structures, with the potential for precision drug delivery.
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Feast for the mind
The General Education course “Ancient Lives” connects undergrads with the earliest civilizations.
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Opioid deaths jump
A new Harvard study shows people who end up in the hospital due to an opioid-related condition are four times more likely to die now than they were in 2000.
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Climate made scary
Journalist David Wallace-Wells and others debated the most effective way to communicate climate urgency in a Harvard discussion.
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Researchers create quantum calculator
Researchers have developed a special type of quantum computer, known as a quantum simulator, that is programmed by capturing super-cooled rubidium atoms with lasers and arranging them in a specific order, then allowing quantum mechanics to do the necessary calculations.
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Skin pigmentation is far more complex than thought
The genetics of skin pigmentation become progressively complex the closer populations reside to the equator.
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Babies understand cost-reward tradeoffs behind others’ actions, study says
Harvard and MIT study reveals that babies understand the cost-reward tradeoffs behind others’ actions.
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Students help groups to pursue climate action
Harvard living lab course works to find practical alternatives to carbon use.
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Small media, big payback
Researchers found that if just three outlets write about a particular major national policy topic, discussion of that topic across social media rises by more than 62 percent.
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The selfie’s gone, but the damage is done
New HBS research examines whether we are less inhibited when posting on temporary social media and how others perceive the posts.
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History under the microscope
Researchers delivered lectures on recent findings to launch the Max Planck-Harvard Research Center for the Archaeoscience of the Ancient Mediterranean.
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First glimpse of a kilonova, and Harvard was there
Marking the beginning of a new era in astrophysics, scientists for the first time have detected gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation, or light, from the same event. Harvard researchers were pivotal in the work.
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When machines rule, should humans object?
Harvard scholars shared concerns and ideas in a HUBweek panel titled “Programming the Future of AI: Ethics, Governance, and Justice.”
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In surge of strawberries, some dirty details
Julie Guthman sets her sights on a tangled story involving land, plant breeding, border policy, pathogens, and highly effective, highly toxic soil fumigants.
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Putting tomorrow’s doctors on opioid alert
Gov. Charlie Baker joined HMS faculty members in discussing the opioid crisis and the role physician education must play in fighting it.
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How to defend against your own mind
Harvard psychology chair Mahzarin Banaji is working with a research fellow to launch a new project called “Outsmarting Human Minds.”
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Not a popularity contest
New research from faculty at Harvard Business School and Harvard Medical School finds that a majority of college freshmen believe others have more friends than they do, when they often don’t.
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The robots are coming, but relax
As artificial intelligence takes hold in more fields, you’ll likely have a job, analysts say, but it may be a different one.
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New England is losing 65 acres of forest a day
A new Harvard Forest report, “Wildlands and Woodlands, Farmlands and Communities,” calls for tripling conservation efforts across the region.