Year: 2015

  • Nation & World

    Democracy, debated in Parliament

    Harvard Professor Michael Sandel led members of the United Kingdom’s House of Commons and House of Lords, along with students and members of the public, through an intense discussion on the nature and importance of democracy, as part of a first-of-its-kind program held in the Speaker’s House in Parliament.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Making a case for democracy

    Michael Sandel, the renowned political philosopher and professor, will debate the meaning of democracy at the Palace of Westminster in London as part of the BBC’s “Democracy Day.”

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Vitamin D protects some against colorectal cancer

    A new study by investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute demonstrates that vitamin D can protect some people with colorectal cancer by perking up the immune system’s vigilance against tumor cells.

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    My memories of Dr. King

    Harvard Divinity School Professor Harvey Cox was a longtime friend of Civil Rights icon the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The clergymen had similar interests and a desire for social justice and equality.

    9 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Justice Ginsburg to receive Radcliffe Medal

    Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, will receive this year’s Radcliffe Medal on May 29 during Radcliffe Day, an annual celebration of Radcliffe’s past, present, and future.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    One size won’t fit all

    The Global Network of Internet and Society Research Centers and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University have released a report on “multistakeholder governance groups” to better inform the discussion over Internet governance models and mechanisms.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Imaging captures how blood stem cells take root

    Harvard-affiliated researchers have provided a see-through zebrafish and enhanced imaging that offer the first direct glimpse of how blood stem cells take root in the body to generate blood.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Chris Pratt is Man of the Year

    Hasty Pudding Theatricals named Chris Pratt the recipient of its 2015 Man of the Year Award.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Sea level correction

    A new study shows that sea levels have increased over the last two decades at a greater rate than previously understood.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Learning from student athletes

    More than 750 students from two Allston schools packed the stands at Lavietes Pavilion to watch the Harvard women’s basketball team in action and learn about student athletes.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Paris tragedy provides an opening for conversation

    Following the attack in Paris, the Harvard Kennedy School asked Adjunct Professor Muriel Rouyer, a French citizen living in the United States, to provide her perspective on the events and what lies ahead for the citizens of France.

    8 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Plans for Smith Campus Center

    With a series of open houses scheduled for later this month, planners recently unveiled design concepts for the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Campus Center that include new formal and informal gathering areas, a wide variety of eating options, flexible meeting or event spaces, fireplaces, landscaped gardens, and even a roof terrace.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Some child, left behind?

    On the cusp of a new education bill from Senate Republicans, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan called this week for repeal and replacement of No Child Left Behind, the signature education reform from a decade ago.

    11 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Damian Woetzel to receive Harvard Arts Medal

    Ballet dancer, director, and now arts leader Damian Woetzel, M.P.A. ’07, has been announced as recipient of the 2015 Harvard Arts Medal, which will be awarded by Harvard President Drew Faust at a Farkas Hall ceremony on April 30 at 4 p.m.

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Crafting ultrathin color coatings

    In Harvard’s high-tech cleanroom, applied physicists produce vivid optical effects — on paper.

    8 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Steering stem cell trafficking into pancreas reverses Type 1 diabetes

    Harvard researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have uncovered a way to enhance and prolong the therapeutic effects of mesenchymal stem cells in a preclinical model of Type 1 diabetes.

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Breakthrough on chronic pain

    Imaging study finds the first evidence of neuroinflammation in brains of chronic pain patients, which could lead to new, targeted treatments.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A new chapter for Congress

    Forty-seven Harvard alumni will be part of the 114th Congress, which began this week.

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Sounding out speech

    A new study demonstrates that infants as young as 6 months can solve the invariance problem in speech perception.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Truth vs. ‘truthiness’

    Developmental psychologist Howard Gardner discusses the time-tested values of truth, beauty, and goodness in a three-part lecture series at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A breadth of learning

    Harvard’s Online Learning gateway houses the University’s open online learning opportunities under one roof for the first time, and anyone can access the breadth and depth of Harvard’s learning content.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Amy Poehler is the 2015 Woman of the Year

    Golden Globe Award-winning actress, comedian, producer, writer, and best-selling author Amy Poehler has been named Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 2015 Woman of the Year.

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    The divergent skull

    New work by Harvard scientists challenges long-standing ideas on skull development in vertebrates.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Harvard Business School’s Paul Vatter dies at 90

    Paul A. Vatter, Harvard Business School’s Lawrence E. Fouraker Professor of Business Administration Emeritus, died on Jan. 4 at the age of 90.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Eight new planets found in Goldilocks Zone

    Astronomers announced Tuesday that they have found eight new planets in the Goldilocks Zone of their stars, orbiting at a distance where liquid water can exist on the planet’s surface. The discoveries double the number of small planets believed to be in the habitable zone of their parent stars.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Stars’ age: A well-kept secret

    Harvard researchers have found that stars slow down as they age, and their ages are well-kept secrets. But astronomers are taking advantage of the first fact to tackle the second and tease out stellar ages.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Surfing on a super-Earth

    For life as we know it to develop on other planets, those planets would need liquid water, or oceans. Geologic evidence suggests that Earth’s oceans have existed for nearly the entire history of our world.

    3 minutes