Year: 2015

  • Science & Tech

    Information, writ widely

    The Dataverse 4 catalog expands access to research, across many Web platforms, even globally.

    4 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    Summertime, tour time

    A look at the tour guides of Harvard Square.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Airing it out

    Harvard Law School’s Peter Carfagna breaks down the seemingly endless, ongoing legal battle over deflated NFL footballs.

    11 minutes
  • Science & Tech

    Wyss improves sepsis device

    Scientists at the Wyss Institute have improved a device developed last year to treat sepsis that works by mimicking the human spleen. The new device is better positioned for near-term use in clinics.

    5 minutes
  • Health

    A bridge for promising research

    Twelve advanced research projects aimed at developing new therapies and diagnostics receive support from Harvard’s Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator.

    6 minutes
  • Health

    So long, snout

    New research shows that bird beaks are the result of skeletal changes controlled by two genetic pathways, shedding light on the origins of one of nature’s most efficient tools.

    4 minutes
  • Health

    Asthma cells scramble like ‘there’s a fire drill’

    Until now, scientists thought that epithelial cells — which line not only the lung’s airways but major cavities of the body and most organs — just sat there motionless. A Harvard study shows that in asthma the opposite is true.

    4 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    A passion for motocross

    When not overseeing shipping and receiving at the Faculty Club, Dan White loves to compete in motocross.

    2 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    Growing up, giving back

    In summer, the Cambridge Youth Enrichment Program, sponsored by the Phillips Brooks House, provides campers with a focus.

    4 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    HBS’s Carl Sloane dies at 78

    Carl S. Sloane, Harvard Business School’s Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor of Business Administration Emeritus, died on July 28 after a brief illness. He was 78 years old.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A hard look at war’s reparations

    A Harvard study of Colombia’s civil war reparations program says it is the largest of its kind and well-received by the population, but may be too big for its own good.

    3 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    SEAS adds to faculty

    The Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences is adding five faculty members this fall, as the rapidly growing School expands its computer science strengths.

    2 minutes
  • Arts & Culture

    Who needs answers?

    The 2015 Arts and Passion-Driven Learning Institute traced connections among inspiration, imagination, and creative work.

    3 minutes
  • Science & Tech

    It was California or bust

    A group of Harvard and MIT students has pedaled its way to the Pacific Ocean from Washington, D.C., with stops along the way to lead science “learning festivals” to promote STEM learning among children.

    5 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    Murray nominated to senior role at Department of Energy

    Cherry A. Murray, former dean of Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, was nominated by President Obama to be director of the Office of Science in the U.S. Department of Energy, a key administration post.

    2 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    Science to chew on

    Local children learn the scientific principles behind cooking food.

    5 minutes
  • Health

    How new biosensors turn E. coli into something valuable

    New biosensors developed by Wyss Institute core faculty member George Church enable complex genetic reprogramming of common bacteria like E. coli and could be leveraged for sustainable biomanufacturing, using the metabolic processes of bacterial cells to generate valuable chemicals and fuels.

    4 minutes
  • Health

    Potential treatment for muscular dystrophy

    Harvard researchers report that by identifying and mimicking important developmental cues, they have been able to drive cells to grow into muscle fibers capable of contracting in a dish and multiplying in large numbers. This new method of producing muscle cells could offer a better model for studying muscle diseases, such as muscular dystrophy, and…

    3 minutes
  • Health

    New hope in old viruses

    Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear have reconstructed an ancient virus that is highly effective at delivering gene therapies to the liver, muscle, and retina.

    3 minutes
  • Science & Tech

    Robotic insect mimics nature’s extreme moves

    A team of researchers from Harvard and Seoul National University has unveiled a novel robotic insect that can jump off the surface of water. In doing so, they have revealed new insights into the natural mechanics that allow water striders to jump from rigid ground or fluid water with the same amount of power and…

    5 minutes
  • Arts & Culture

    Uncovering what Thoreau uncovered

    Harvard’s Houghton Library has acquired Henry David Thoreau’s notes from the scene of the shipwreck that killed social reformer and writer Margaret Fuller.

    7 minutes
  • Arts & Culture

    Writing her way back

    Singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles is returning to her musical-theater roots as the composer of “Waitress,” which opens at the American Repertory Theater this weekend.

    5 minutes
  • Health

    Inadequate hydration can lead to impaired cognitive, emotional function

    Drinking enough water is essential for physiological processes such as circulation, metabolism, temperature regulation, and waste removal. More than half of all children and adolescents in the United States are under-hydrated — probably because they’re not drinking enough water, according to the first national study of its kind from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of…

    3 minutes
  • Arts & Culture

    A Harvard homecoming for this artist

    Jesse Aron Green ’02 is the first Harvard alumnus to have an exhibition at the new Harvard Art Museums. A former Quincy House resident and a Needham native, Green spoke with the Art Museums about his Harvard education and the inspiration for his work.

    6 minutes
  • Health

    Expanding the brain

    New findings reveal how genomic imprinting can dramatically expand biological diversity, and could have important implications for understanding the brain.

    4 minutes
  • Science & Tech

    A shift in motherhood

    New findings draw from evolution to explain why human mothers seek help with raising their children.

    4 minutes
  • Health

    Hard-won lizards

    Research on the evolutionary history of the anole lizard became an international adventure for Professor Jonathan Losos.

    8 minutes
  • Health

    Recurrent ovarian cancer patients may have hope

    Harvard researchers have found a gene therapy that delivers a protein that suppresses the development of female reproductive organs. This new treatment could improve the survival of patients with ovarian cancer that has recurred after chemotherapy. Recurrence happens 70 percent of the time and is invariably fatal.

    4 minutes
  • Science & Tech

    Go ahead, be sarcastic

    Despite sarcasm’s nasty reputation, new research finds that it can boost creativity and problem-solving in the workplace.

    4 minutes
  • Science & Tech

    Pesticide found in 70 percent of Massachusetts’ honey samples

    In a new study, Harvard researchers looked at pollen and honey samples collected from the same set of hives across Massachusetts. Findings show they contain at least one pesticide implicated in Colony Collapse Disorder.

    3 minutes