Science
Indigenous Group Petitions Harvard to Shut Down Controversial Geoengineering Project to Block Sun
The Saami Council, an Indigenous peoples’ organization, launched a petition this month calling on Harvard to shut down its Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment, a controversial environmental engineering project that seeks to block the sun’s rays to combat climate change.
Paris Climate Agreement Lead Negotiator Highlights Urgency of Climate Change Crisis at HKS Event
Christiana Figueres, the lead negotiator of the Paris Climate Agreement, discussed the need for timely action to fight the climate crisis at the Kennedy School’s annual Robert S. McNamara Lecture on War and Peace on Thursday.
Massachusetts General Hospital Launches Center to Study Neuroscience of Psychedelics
Massachusetts General Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, has launched a new center to study the clinical benefits of psychedelics in treating mental illness.
SEAS Researchers Develop Method to Change the Fundamental Microscopic Shape of Materials
Researchers at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences created a new method to transform the fundamental topology of cellular material, according to their paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature last week.
Raindrops on Exoplanets Remain Similar to Those on Earth, Harvard Researchers Discover
A pair of Harvard researchers discovered that falling raindrops on other planets remain similar in size and behavior despite widely different atmospheric conditions, according to a study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets last month.
Harvard Astrophysicists Help Make Historic Discovery in Understanding Black Hole’s Magnetic Fields
A team of astronomers, including Harvard affiliates, have captured the first-ever image of a black hole’s polarized emission — which offers insight into its magnetic fields — according to an article published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters in late March.
Harvard Researchers Elucidate Relationship Between Stress and Hair Loss
Harvard researchers have identified a mechanism explaining how chronic stress may lead to hair loss, according to a study published in Nature last month.
SEAS Researchers Postpone Test Flight for Controversial Geoengineering Project To Block Sun
Harvard researchers announced Wednesday they will postpone a test flight for a controversial environmental engineering project — the Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment, known as “SCoPEx” — after pushback from an Indigenous peoples’ group in Sweden.
Harvard Researchers Obtain 100,000 Baby Teeth to Investigate Effects of Environment on Long-Term Health
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have obtained a sample of over 100,000 baby teeth that they plan to use to determine indicators of individuals’ long-term health.
Harvard Scientists Propose New Model of Martian Atmosphere with Life-Permitting Conditions
Harvard researchers published a revised model of the early Martian environment that could explain how life may have emerged on Mars in Nature Geoscience earlier this month.
Harvard Researchers Develop Cheaper Method For Renewable Energy Storage
In a step forward for renewable energy storage, researchers in Harvard’s Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology have accomplished the continuous splitting of impure water into pure hydrogen and oxygen gas by leveraging a process called forward osmosis, according to an article published earlier this month.
SEAS Dean Doyle Says Diversity Plan Has Made ‘Great Progress’
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Dean Francis J. Doyle III said in a Thursday interview with The Crimson that the school has made “great progress” in implementing its “robust” diversity plan.
Chicxulub Impactor that Killed the Dinosaurs Was A Comet Fragment, Not An Asteroid, Harvard Researchers Theorize
Harvard astrophysicists proposed a new model showing that the Chicxulub impactor — the celestial body responsible for the mass extinction of the dinosaurs — could have been of cometary, rather than asteroidal origin, in a study published in Scientific Reports on Monday.
After Five Years of Construction, SEAS Faculty and Staff Begin Transition into New Allston Science and Engineering Complex
After the coronavirus crisis delayed the opening of Harvard’s new Science and Engineering Complex in Allston, faculty and staff at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have begun transitioning their offices to the new building.
‘How Do You Do the Lab Classes?’: Harvard’s Engineering School Adapts to the Virtual World
Engineering courses are among those that face the greatest logistical hurdles in adapting to a virtual setting – equipment can often be expensive and immobile, while labs and group projects present a need for collaboration.
Graphene Researchers
Zeyu Hao and Andrew Zimmerman are two Harvard researchers who worked on the development of a new twisted graphene configuration for achieving superconductivity.
Center for Advanced Biological Innovation and Manufacturing Secures $76 Million in Funding, Signs Lease
The Massachusetts Center for Advanced Biological Innovation and Manufacturing has obtained $76 million in funding and signed a lease for a 40,000-square foot site in Watertown, Mass. for the manufacturing and innovation of new biotechnologies.
Finding Ways to Move Forward: How STEM Seniors Adapted to Virtual Theses
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and shift to remote learning, many seniors studying in the STEM fields have had to redesign their thesis projects.
Harvard Researchers Link Arm Bones and Evolutionary Timelines
A team of researchers from Harvard and the University of Cambridge used novel techniques to examine how and when early tetrapods — four-limbed animals — transitioned from living in marine environments to terrestrial ones.
Researchers Connect Antarctic Melt and Northern Hemisphere Sea Level Shift
Climate researchers discovered that changes in Northern Hemisphere sea levels contribute to the shrinking of the Antarctic ice sheet, according to a study published in Nature on Nov. 25.
COVID-19 Vaccine Success Will Depend On Factors Beyond Efficacy Rate, Harvard Medical School Study Finds
A team of researchers at Harvard Medical School has found that the success of a COVID-19 vaccine will depend on not only its efficacy, but also the pace at which it is delivered, the severity of the pandemic, and the public’s acceptance of immunization.
Harvard Researchers Pioneer New Technology for High-Resolution, 3D Chromosome Imaging
Harvard researchers have devised a novel technology for high-resolution, 3D imaging of human chromosomes — structures that carry DNA — in single cells, in a study published in Cell in August.
Quality of Antibodies May Be Tied to Differing COVID-19 Outcomes, Harvard Researchers Find
For patients with severe COVID-19, the key to survival may depend on the quality, rather than the quantity, of their antibody response and development, a recent study from a team of researchers at Harvard Medical School Massachusetts General Hospital suggests.
Researchers Develop ‘World Hunger Clock’ To Measure Global Food Insecurity
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, the World Data Lab, and the Brookings Institute developed a “World Hunger Clock” to project current and future levels of hunger and food insecurity.