Science & Tech

All Science & Tech

  • Oldest mammal is found

    When dinosaurs ruled the world, scampering around their feet were platoons of diminutive insect-eating animals, part reptile, part something new. When the giant reptiles and many other animals were wiped…

  • Students tackle Harvard Square parking problems

    A group of students who studied parking problems in Harvard Square issued wide-ranging recommendations, including installing wireless access-control gates at the more than 50 lots across the University, increasing parking…

  • Bringing back the ancient muses

    The epic verse of Homer, the love poems of Sappho, the tragedies of Sophocles, and the comedies of Aristophanes – all were accompanied by music. Yet that music – its…

  • What determines who goes to college and who does not?

    More than ever, policymakers are adopting merit-based, rather than need-based, financial aid programs, a trend that disquiets Harvard Graduate School of Education Assistant Professor Bridget Terry Long. In Georgia, for…

  • Doctoral student developing Internet search tool

    Harvard Graduate School of Education doctoral student Kathleen Guinee is developing a computer-based tool to make searching the Internet easier for all students. Her research so far has focused on…

  • Chandra reveals nest of tight binaries in dense cluster

    Observations from a scientific team at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have revealed that an incredibly dense star cluster known as 47 Tucanae includes many binary stars. Most of the…

  • Young star may be belching spheres of gas, astronomers say

    Observations by astronomers of a young star in the constellation Cepheus, more than 2000 lights-years away, suggest that it is repeatedly belching spheres of gas. Current theories about how young…

  • Chandra pinpoints edge of accretion disk around black hole

    An object known as XTE J1118+480 is a black hole roughly seven times the mass of our Sun. XTE J1118+480 is locked in a close binary orbit with a Sun-like…

  • Handheld calculator measures risk of heart attack

    When a patient goes to a hospital emergency room with worsening chest pain, doctors must quickly decide whether that person should be given medication and sent home, or whether he…

  • Researcher creates controversy with view of loving families

    One of the foremost authorities on the history of the family in the early modern period, Steven Ozment has from his first forays into this field attracted controversy. His latest…

  • Bolstering private environmental management

    How can government agencies best regulate private firms’ impact on the environment? One popular new approach — advocated by state agencies and by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — is…

  • Harvard faculty press aggressive agenda for AIDS fight in Africa

    A statement signed by more than 100 Harvard faculty members calls upon wealthy countries, in partnership with poor countries, to establish a global trust fund to make life-prolonging antiretroviral therapy…

  • Gamma-ray astronomers detect “extreme” galaxies

    Gamma rays from X-ray emitting galaxies seem to signal the existence of what astronomers are calling “extreme” galaxies. An international team of astrophysicists made the discovery of very-high-energy gamma rays,…

  • Polar bear research shows global warming is real

    Harvard Professor James McCarthy was among a handful of top scientists who coordinated a remarkable report by the world scientific community in 2001 that said global warming is real, it’s…

  • Study defines clear roles for parents of teenagers

    A new study by the Center for Health Communication at the Harvard School of Public Health cuts through the confusion that parents of teenagers experience because of conflicting advice. The…

  • Minority students more likely to be labeled “mentally retarded”

    When compared with their white counterparts, African-American children were almost three times more likely to be labeled “mentally retarded,” according to a paper by Thomas B. Parrish, managing research scientist…

  • For billion-dollar deals, risk allocation is key

    Not too long ago, when dot-com fever was at its peak, observers of the business world oohed and aahed over venture capital transactions involving millions of dollars. From researcher Benjamin…

  • Nine keys to a knowledge infrastructure

    Yesha Y. Sivan, CEO of the K2K Knowledge Infrastructure Laboratory and a visiting scholar at Harvard, has outlined a strategy to allow knowledge-based organizations to plan, implement and evaluate the…

  • Radiation limits narrowing of arteries after stent

    The results of a trial directed by the Harvard Clinical Research Institute and the Cardiovascular Data Analysis Center indicate there may be an effective alternative to placement of a stent…

  • Is E.T. flashing us?

    Harvard recently broke ground for a new telescope to look for extraterrestrial beacons. This instrument will be capable of covering a million times more celestial space than the present instrument…

  • Ancient Chinese script rewrites history

    “This is like the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls,” says Tu Weiming, director of the Harvard Yenching Institute, who has played a key role in the preservation of ancient…

  • Charles Rosenberg looks at changing perceptions of illness

    In Charles Rosenberg’s eyes, epidemics tell us a great deal about American society. Rosenberg, considered by many to be the nation’s pre-eminent medical historian, was recently named Professor of the…

  • Study confirms that students in “substance-free” dorms drink less

    Residents of college housing where alcohol and smoking were banned were less likely to be victims of actions by students who were drinking. Findings from the Harvard School of Public…

  • Should computer code be considered free speech?

    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…

  • Internet will enhance, not replace, current educational models

    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…

  • The U.S. and faith-based social initiatives

    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…

  • Drivers place children in rear seat because of new law

    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…

  • Dark night sky tells us about structure and formation of solar system

    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…

  • Harvard researchers stop, restart, light

    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…

  • High school dropouts concentrated in 35 cities

    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…