Science & Tech

All Science & Tech

  • Back into the dark

    Harvard physicists look toward new frontiers as they anticipate the restart of the Large Hadron Collider and their ATLAS experiment in spring 2015.

  • Where ideas trump devices

    At the annual CS50 Fair, students of history, literature, music, and more create tools to share knowledge across fields.

  • Creating ‘genomic origami’

    Researchers have assembled the first high-resolution, 3-D maps of entire folded genomes and found a structural basis for gene regulation, a kind of “genomic origami” that allows the same genome to produce different types of cells.

  • Eyes on Orion

    Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics scientist Jonathan McDowell answers questions on the Orion test run and prospects for getting to Mars.

  • She made her mark

    Journalist Walter Isaacson and College students talk about the achievements and challenges for women in the field of computer science, including pioneer Grace Hopper.

  • The ever-smaller future of physics

    Nobel winner Steven Weinberg brought his thoughts on a “theory of everything” to the Physics Department’s Lee Historical Lecture.

  • The surprising origins of Europeans

    Geneticists David Reich and Nick Patterson detailed recent work on human migrations that led to the populations of today’s Europe.

  • Grace Hopper, computing pioneer

    Author Walter Isaacson’s new book is “The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution.” Here is an excerpt about computing pioneer Grace Hopper from his book.

  • Here to there

    On Friday, leaders in the field of navigation converged on Radcliffe’s annual science symposium to discuss findings in everything from brain science to animal navigation to the psychology of how a lost person behaves — which can give rescuers important cues about where to look.

  • Spiritual and sustainable

    A Harvard Divinity School conference focused on climate change reduction efforts as moral choices.

  • Major boost for computer science

    Steve Ballmer was joined by President Drew Faust and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) Dean Cherry Murray at an iLab event to formally announce that the University will increase its computer science faculty by 50 percent over the next few years, to 36 from 24.

  • Online hub for social science

    The Digital Lab for the Social Sciences is designed to serve as an online clearinghouse where social scientists can find study participants.

  • New evidence on Neanderthal mixing

    New research illuminates the mixing with Neanderthals in early human prehistory, narrowing the window of time when they crossbred to between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago.

  • A walk on the wild side

    Scientist Peter Del Tredici collaborated with artist Teri Rueb on a mobile sound tour of Bussey Brook Meadow.

  • Six decades of science as diplomacy

    This month, the Harvard Physics Department and swissnex Boston, a cultural and technological exchange effort by the Swiss consulate, are sponsoring a photo exhibit that focuses on the people of CERN — laughing, napping, and thinking — and the sometimes ordinary-looking places where they unearth the extraordinary.

  • SLIPS inspires second generation

    In a study reported in Nature Biotechnology, a team of Harvard scientists and engineers has developed a new surface coating for medical devices using materials already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The researchers noted that the coating repelled blood from more than 20 medically relevant substrates (glass, plastic, and metal) and also suppressed biofilm formation.

  • Plan to toughen emissions rules faces tough fight

    Professors Jody Freeman and Richard Lazarus came together to discuss the legal future of the nation’s most ambitious action on climate change to date.

  • Material gain

    A team of scientists from Harvard University and MIT has developed a theoretical model of a material that could one day anchor the development of highly efficient solar panels.

  • Ghosts in the machines

    Best-selling author Walter Isaacson ’74 talks about the history of the computer and the Internet.

  • A read on seawater sulfate

    A tool developed by Professor David Johnston and colleagues might help shed light on biogeochemical cycling in oxygen minimum zones.

  • Prospects for digital humanities

    THATCamp forum allows practitioners of digital humanities to define their concerns, devise solutions for them.

  • Where heat is deadliest

    A new study of heat waves found a strong correlation between excess deaths and poverty, poor housing quality, hypertension, and impervious land cover.

  • Far-out questions

    Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb talked about the search for intelligent life in a lecture at the Science Center.

  • Pasta yes, gluten no

    At science and cooking lecture, chef Mark Ladner explained his unusual process for making tasty pasta without gluten.

  • On climate, ‘do no harm’

    Harvard’s Robert Stavins discusses the importance of flexible rules that allow national carbon markets, if established under a future climate agreement, to link, which would increase efficiency and cut costs of reducing carbon emissions.

  • An introduction to rebuilding the body

    A new course at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences is bringing students up to speed on biomedical engineering, preparing them to contribute to University research, pursue summer internships, or take an idea conceived in the classroom to the next stage of development.

  • Pluto’s demotion debated

    In 2006, the International Astronomical Union demoted Pluto from its rank as a planet. But after an hourlong debate between planetary science experts on what constitutes a planet, an audience packed into Harvard’s Phillips Auditorium voted to restore it to its place.

  • Build your own bot

    A new resource provides both experienced and aspiring researchers with the intellectual raw materials needed to design, build, and operate robots made from soft, flexible materials.

  • Recruiting bacteria for innovation

    A team at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University sees biofilms as a robust new platform for designer nanomaterials that could help clean polluted rivers, manufacture pharmaceutical products, fabricate new textiles, and more.

  • A mark on modern Europe

    New research from the lab of David Reich challenges the prevailing view among archaeologists that there were no major influxes of new peoples into Europe after the advent of agriculture.