Year: 2014

  • Nation & World

    977 admitted to Class of 2019 under Early Action

    Harvard College on Dec. 11 sent admission notifications to 977 prospective students through its Early Action program.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A cost of culture

    A new study, authored by Collin McCabe, a doctoral student in Harvard’s Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, suggests that increased exposure to disease has played an important role in the evolution of culture in both humans and non-human primates.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    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.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Faculty Council meeting held Dec. 10

    On Dec. 10 the members of the Faculty Council met in camera to discuss student disciplinary cases.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    ‘Lede’ing by example

    This past fall, more than a dozen Boston sixth- and seventh-graders got a taste of life as journalists. Participating in a program called Project Lede, the students learned just how much hard work goes into creating and publishing a newspaper, thanks to Project Lede founders who hail from Harvard and the University of Delaware.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A mirror to coercion

    Alberto Mora, a top civilian lawyer for the U.S. Navy in the administration of President George W. Bush and an early critic of the CIA torture program, assesses the findings and conclusions of the newly released Senate Intelligence Committee report.

    10 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A bittersweet confection

    Visual artist Kara Walker talks about “A Subtlety,” her provocative public art project staged at a defunct Domino sugar factory in Brooklyn last summer.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    ‘Epidemics are optional’

    Expanded medical care could greatly reduce Ebola fatalities, says Paul Farmer of Partners In Health.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Discovering ‘detectives’ of science

    Howard Stone returned to Harvard to lead the annual holiday lecture at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, with hundreds of family and community members in attendance.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Reproductive strategies

    When compared with a solitary strategy of producing offspring who then go on to produce their own offspring, a new Harvard study has found that eusociality is a high-risk, high-reward gamble.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Eyes on Orion

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

    9 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A journey into illness

    Poet and memoirist Meghan O’Rourke is using her time as a Radcliffe Fellow to write “What’s Wrong With Me,” a chronicle of her struggles with autoimmune disease.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Leverett’s evolution

    Leverett House’s McKinlock Hall reopened to students at the beginning of the academic year after 15 months of reconstruction. McKinlock is the second completed project in the House renewal initiative,…

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    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.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A pill to shed fat?

    Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers have taken what they describe as “the first step toward a pill that can replace the treadmill” for the control of obesity.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Activating ‘mindshare’

    A national faculty survey produced by Higher Education Research Institute implies that changes in teaching may be afoot, as lecturers increasingly adopt student-centered and team-based teaching practices. In fact, this recalibration of the pedagogical universe is happening at Harvard, too.

    14 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Crowdsourcing old journals

    Harvard’s Ernst Mayr Library is involved in a collaborative effort to digitize the handwritten journals of ornithologist William Brewster. The collaboration uses crowdsourcing for the transcription and video games as a way to check the work’s accuracy.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A call for action, and for hope

    Warning of myriad international problems, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Harvard faculty and students to continue research on such issues and use what they learn to help improve living and environmental conditions.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    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.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Minds in motion

    Last month the Harvard Dance Project performed “LOOK UP,” a two-hour improvisational piece based on a series of “set choreographed phrases” and inspired by the works of architect Louis Kahn, Professor Stephen Greenblatt’s 2012 book “The Swerve: How the World Became Modern,” and recent research into how the brain perceives digital media.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    In sports, live TV is still No. 1

    A panel of experts at Harvard Law School explored how the Internet and social media are redefining the traditional sports business model.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    New parents weigh in on genomic testing

    A study by Harvard researchers is the first to explore new parents’ attitudes toward genomic testing on newborns. The findings suggest that if such testing becomes available, there would be an interest among new parents, regardless of their demographic background.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    It starts with education

    Young African-Americans must see their reflections in their communities and have a chance to succeed in school and society, U.S. official tells Askwith Forum.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Leaders speak, comics listen

    Comedians Seth Rogen and Lizz Winstead brought some laughter to the JFK Jr. Forum on Tuesday night, discussing humor and politics.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    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.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Journalism’s new world order

    Game-changing political reporters John Heilemann and Mark Halperin are optimistic about the relentless changes happening in journalism.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    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.

    15 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Mediterranean diet has marked impact on aging

    Researchers at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital have found that greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with longer telomeres, which serve as a biomarker for aging.

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Pulling art from the bin

    The new American Repertory Theater play “O.P.C.” examines the culture of consumerism while the production team takes the message to heart.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Lewis named interim dean of SEAS

    Michael D. Smith, Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, today announced the appointment of Harry R. Lewis, Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science, as interim dean of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), effective Jan. 1, 2015.

    2 minutes