Sciences Division
Study Reveals Early Malnutrition Affects Personality Formation
In a new study published last March in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Harvard researchers reveal that even a single incident of malnutrition in early childhood can have a profound effect on an individual’s adult personality. Individuals who had suffered from severe starvation as infants tended to be more neurotic and less adventurous, sociable, curious, and organized as adults.
Overall Satisfaction with Natural Sciences Concentrations among Class of 2012
Graduating natural sciences concentrators in the Class of 2012 rated their overall satisfaction with their respective concentrations on a scale of one to five.
Concentration Satisfaction: Class of 2012
As freshmen enter the second week of Advising Fortnight, Flyby presents a complete set of data from the Class of 2012's concentration satisfaction ratings. For all freshmen looking to narrow down the list of potential concentrations, sophomores or juniors curious about their chosen concentrations, and seniors reflecting on their undergraduate careers, here are the stats from last year's graduating seniors on how satisfied they were with their respective concentrations. Check out our four interactive graphs showing overall satisfaction rates among Humanities, Natural Sciences, SEAS, and Social Sciences concentrators in the Class of 2012.
In 1969, Students Occupied Harvard Hall, 'Ejecting' Deans
Every week, The Crimson publishes a selection of articles that were printed in our pages in years past.
Joining the Ranks
“The ad hoc process is greatly shrouded in mystery; remarkably little is written about it,” says current Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Diversity and Development Judith D. Singer. She smirks wryly as she swigs coffee from her mug, as if this is something she’s explained a hundred times before.
Duck Penises, Perfect Chins, and Cornell's Inferiority Complex
The quick and dirty about what's been going on around the Ancient Eight (and other schools too). While Harvard traverses the murky and scandalous waters of cheating and lying, Yale's biggest scandal of late concerns duck penises. Apparently people aren't too happy that the National Science Foundation has dropped a cool $384,949 so that Yale scientists can investigate "Sexual Conflict, Social Behaviour and the Evolution of Waterfowl Genitalia". What exactly are they going to do with all that money, you may be asking? Hopefully answer that pressing question of just how much duck penises shorten or lengthen depending on the time of year, the age of the duck, and its "social environment" (we'll leave it up to you to figure out what that means). Fascinating.
Overconsumption of Salt Linked to Cardiovascular Disease
A research team at the Harvard School of Public Health has found that overconsumption of salt—and its effects on the cardiovascular system—can be linked to 2.3 million deaths worldwide, nearly 40 percent of which were premature.
Study Suggests Video Games Can Help the Blind Navigate
A recent study from Harvard’s Laboratory for Visual Neuroplasticity at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary suggests that audio-based video games can help blind individuals to navigate physical spaces.
Researchers Examine Effect of Timing on Mutations
Timing may play a more important role in the survival of evolutionarily beneficial mutations in bacteria than previously thought, a discovery which might have implications on cancer research, according to a study by Harvard researchers released last month.
Life Sciences Cluster Releases Student Handbook for Undergraduate Research
The opportunities for research available to students of the life sciences at Harvard make the first hurdle to involvement not “if” but “how” to begin.
Professor Tree
Students admire their professors, but professors have professors they admire, too. This week, FM wrote to Professor Daniel T. Gilbert ...
I've Got My Eye on You
Dr. John E. Dowling '57 reads an excerpt from his book in the Widener Rotunda as a part of the Harvard College Dean's Book Talk Series on Tuesday evening. Dowling is one of the foremost authorities on vision.
Survive Lab as a Humanities Concentrator
Maybe it's for your SPU requirement, maybe you just drunkenly ended up in the bio-labs, or maybe you're like me, and just wanted to play with chemicals. Regardless of the reason, it's happened—you're are in a lab class. Your strong verbal skills and College Board approved vocabulary won't help you here. As I like to say, science is hard. But luckily I have some tips that will make lab a little easier for us humanities concentrators.
Building Memorial Church, Swamping a Celebrity, Resisting HUAC
Every week, The Crimson publishes a selection of articles that were printed in our pages in years past.
After 40 Years, One Last Hurrah
When Joseph D. Brain delivered the first lecture of his new physiology course “The Human Organism” in 1971, scientists had not yet eradicated smallpox, profiled DNA, or discovered HIV.
Research Conversations
Professors and students gathered together to discuss research in the humanities, social sciences, hard sciences, and quantitative studies at the second annual National Collegiate Research Conference.
Research Conference Stresses Diversity
Speaking at the second annual National Collegiate Research Conference, MIT physics professor Walter H. G. Lewin kicked off the three-day symposium with a bang—the big bang.
Defending Radicals, Integrating Radcliffe
Every week, The Crimson publishes a selection of articles that were printed in our pages in years past.
Diderot and Dissections: The World of the Non-Science Pre-Med
The challenge of filling pre-med requirements while concentrating in a non-science field has spread some students across multiple disciplines.
Hidden Study Spaces, Just in Time for Midterms!
With midterm season underway and constant reminders of imminent finals, stumbling across an empty reading room is often a welcome discovery.
Faculty Report Announces Contraction
The total number of ladder faculty in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences dropped from 722 to 712 between 2011 and 2012, a 1.4 percent contraction in the size of the faculty, according to the 2012 FAS Annual Report released last Thursday.
George Church Visits Colbert
On Thursday, Harvard Medical School Professor of Genetics George M. Church appeared on "The Colbert Report" with 20 million copies of his new book, co-authored with Ed Regis, in his front jacket pocket (don't worry, it's a DNA trick!). The book is called "Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves," and according to Colbert, it may contain information that "will eventually destroy all of mankind." In reality, the book is actually about the many possibilities presented by synthetic biology, one of which is digital information storage in DNA.
Jones Tackles Medical Ethics and History
Professor David S. Jones ’97 is the A. Bernard Ackerman Professor of the Culture of Medicine and this year he is teaching a new, wildly popular class entitled Ethical Reasoning 33: “Medical Ethics and History.” In his most recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine, he explores the evolution of therapeutics from the days of blood-letting to what we see today.