Science & Tech

Unlike all other forms of “speech” that are protected under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, computer source code holds a unique place in the law. Computer source code…

In January 2001, Harvard information technology experts outlined a future in which the Internet, computers, and other technologies will enhance rather than replace the current educational experience. What that means…

U.S. President George W. Bush has signaled that he is serious about offering federal support to faith-based social service initiatives. What does that mean for the separation of church and…

A Rhode Island law that requires that children sit in the back and wear proper restraints imposes fines of $30 for violation of the rear seating requirement and $150 for…

The darkness of the night sky is one of astronomy’s great puzzles. An infinite universe uniformly filled with stars and galaxies should produce an infinitely bright night sky, Johannes Kepler…

Albert Einstein theorized that light cannot travel faster than 186,282 miles per second. But he never said it couldn’t go slower. Lene Hau, a physics professor in the Faculty of…

The nation’s high school dropout problem is most desperate in between 200 to 300 schools in the 35 largest cities in the U.S. The cities are Indianapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, San…

Harvard researcher James Shine is currently researching pollutants in the sediment of Boston Harbor and other harbors. He is crafting criteria for the Environmental Protection Agency that would measure pollution…

A rise in soft news and critical journalism “may now be hastening the decline in news audiences” and “weakening the foundation of democracy by diminishing the public’s information about public…

For more than two years, Nancy Krieger and her colleagues have worked with approximately 1 million records from databases of the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Departments of Public Health as…

With results that fundamentally differ from earlier black hole studies, Harvard researchers have shown that some recently discovered black holes are not only ultra-dense, but actually possess event horizons that…

The most startling finding of a new report is that 667,000 of 1.1 million at-risk workers in Massachusetts have earned a high school credential but still lack basic math, reading,…

If we want a better understanding of the prospect of change, we first need a better way of seeing into our own powerful inclination NOT to change. Considering every workplace…

Joseph S. Nye Jr. and John D. Donahue of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government have examined all aspects of the globalization phenomenon in order to separate the facts…

A mountaintop in Chile provides one of the best places on Earth to see light that has been traveling toward our world for billions of years. “It’s an inspiring place…

In today’s expansive job market, with its escalating definition of a competitive salary, teaching is underpaid. Graduates are actively recruited to work in investment banking, consulting, and technology, where beginning…

Lead is a naturally occurring toxic element, and exposure poses a serious threat to children whose neurological systems are still developing. Some children suffer from brain damage, poor motor skills…

“The question is, how is public space to be created — by designers, by the state, or by the people who use it?” asks Margaret Crawford, a professor at the…

Donald Milton, associate professor in the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, hypothesized that the nature of the air that employees breathe affects how often…

How to keep children occupied and engaged in worthwhile after-school pursuits is becoming a major focus of study at the Harvard Family Research Project at the Graduate School of Education.…

In her book, “The Widening Gap: Why American Working Families are in Jeopardy and What Can be Done About It,” S. Jody Heymann of the Harvard School of Public Health…

“Our religious institutions are the only institutions that are not completely implicated in the culture of materialism and growth,” said Bill McKibben, an environmental activist and a fellow at Harvard…

Researchers refused to suppress publication of data that indicates an experimental drug did not slow the progression of HIV infection, even though the drug company that sponsored their research tried…

Astronomers have long debated how gamma-ray bursts (or “GRBs”) originate. One theory contends that GRBs result when two “compact objects,” that is, neutron stars or black holes, collide and coalesce.…

According to Jeffrey Brown of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, the Internet’s power to allow consumers to engage in low-cost price comparisons online has affected the market for…

In a study, higher quality child care showed a positive relation to higher levels of social functioning in children both at school and at home. Those children who attended higher-level…

Media consultants have spent years studying what convinces viewers to watch certain programs. While there are no purely empirical answers why certain programs are more popular than others, a new…

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are mysterious flashes of high-energy light that are detected about once a day somewhere in the sky. However, their origin remains unknown to astronomers, most of whom…

For men in rural Gambia, more than 15 kids are desirable. That’s double the number of children that women are actually delivering. The number may seem high to people in…

Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, scientists have zeroed in on a mid-mass black hole in the galaxy M82. This black hole – located 600 light years away from the center…