Findings
Insights, discoveries, and analysis from Harvard scholars and scientists.
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How to fight depression? Faster.
Hope flags when medications fail, isolating and endangering patients. Backed by a major grant, 2 Harvard scientists are focused on reducing the distance between diagnosis and recovery.
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Health
Rapid relief for the severely depressed? There’s a catch.
Ketamine carries risks, say researchers. Yet for some patients, it’s ‘the only thing that works.’
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Science & Tech
How humans evolved to be ‘energetically unique’
Metabolic rates outpaced ‘couch potato’ primates thanks to sweat, says new study
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Health
Too much sitting hurts the heart
Even with exercise, sedentary behavior can increase risk of heart failure by up to 60%, according to study
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Science & Tech
‘Harnessing evolution’
New tool allows researchers to study gene mutation directly within living human cells
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Science & Tech
How mammals got their stride
Revealing twists, turns of evolution from sprawling to upright posture
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Health
Study pinpoints optimal timing for RSV vaccine during pregnancy
Five weeks before giving birth best transfers maternal antibodies to the fetus, say researchers
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Early warning sign of extinction?
Fossil record stretching millions of years shows tiny ocean creatures on the move before Earth heats up
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Lawyers reap big profits lobbying government regulators under the radar
Study exposes how banks sway policy from shadows, by targeting bureaucrats instead of politicians
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So much for summers of love
Despite ‘hippie’ reputation, male bonobos fight three times as often as chimps, study finds
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Exercise cuts heart disease risk in part by lowering stress, study finds
Benefits nearly double for people with depression
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Amazon butterfly evolved from hybrids
Genomic findings challenge thinking on what makes a species
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A molecular ‘warhead’ against disease
Approach attacks errant proteins at their roots
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Aspirin cuts liver fat in trial
10 percent reduction seen in small study of disease that affects up to a third of U.S. adults
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Why are we so divided? Zero-sum thinking is part of it.
Researchers examine who embraces mindset that one’s gain is another’s loss, and how that affects our politics — in sometimes surprising ways
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Parkinson’s warning in skin biopsy
Medical office procedure identifies key biomarker that may lead to more reliable diagnosis of neurodegenerative disorders
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How the already anxious avoided global spike in COVID anxiety
Psychological tools learned by those in treatment proved protective in high-stress event, study finds
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Larger lesson about tariffs in a move that helped Trump but not the country
Researcher details findings on policy that failed to boost U.S. employment even as it scored political points
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Menopause depression risk has been exaggerated
Some groups are more vulnerable but symptoms far from universal, review finds
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Despite prevalence, arthritis, neck and back pain receive few research dollars
Musculoskeletal diseases are the leading cause of years lived with disability
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Glimpse into how mind may affect healing
Study finds bruising fades faster in patients who are led to believe more time has passed than actually has
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Do high-stress jobs put pregnancy at risk?
Study compared outcomes for expecting doctors, lawyers. One group fared worse.
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Harvard physicists create a new phase of matter
First demonstration of non-Abelian anyons in a quantum processor
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Did fermented foods fuel brain growth?
Study puts fermentation, not fire, as pivot point behind our ancestors’ increasing cranial capacity
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‘Radcliffe Wave’ is waving
Astronomers detail oscillation of our giant neighbor
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Looking to rewind the aging clock
Harvard researchers create model that better measures biological age, distinguishes between harmful and adaptive changes during life
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Potential new weapon in battle against superbugs
Harvard team’s synthetic molecule highly effective against drug-resistant bacteria
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A win for science, and patients, against brain injury ‘nihilism’
Hope for progress even after a 450-foot fall, trial shows, defying pessimism that hurts research and families
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Are top-ranked colleges really the best? Depends. At what?
Sociologist urges ratings focused on real-life outcomes, particularly in those from underrepresented groups
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We’re social beings. So are microbes.
When we pick up our neighbors’ bugs, we get the good as well as the bad and the ugly
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New evidence shows COVID-19 isn’t done with us yet
Study suggests lack of regular care and screenings set stage for worse public health outcomes, wider disparities
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The miracle of ‘dog’
New findings illuminate complex neuroscience behind even the simplest words, with implications for treatment of speech, language disorders
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AI model flags high-risk pancreatic cancer patients 18 months before diagnosis
Novel approach caught 3.5 times as many cases than current screening guidelines would have for 40-plus group
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For students still feeling pandemic shock, clock is ticking
New report shows some progress but persistent achievement gaps; co-author Kane urges action before federal aid expires
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Gene-therapy breakthrough allows congenitally deaf children to hear
Harvard scientist co-leads research, which targeted specific condition, may yield other treatments for more of the 30 million kids with genetic hearing loss
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An evolutionary clue, curled up and long unstudied, in a Harvard museum
Trilobites’ soft undersides show mechanics of early ‘enrollment’ defense
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Bird’s-eye view of energy conservation
Physics of V-shaped flight formations offer insights into how to improve efficiency of groups of drones, underwater vehicles