All articles


  • Campus & Community

    Doctors overprescribing antibiotics for sore throats

    Doctors treating sore throats are overprescribing antibiotics to more than a million U.S. children annually, unnecessarily driving up health costs, promoting the rise of drug-resistant bugs, and exposing children to unnecessary drugs and their side effects. That’s the conclusion of a new study of national treatment data by faculty at Harvard Medical School and the…

  • Science & Tech

    Survey: Many seniors don’t understand Medicare drug benefit

    When asked how well they understand the new Medicare drug benefit, more than six in 10 seniors (61 percent) say ‘not too well’ or ‘not at all,’ while more than one in three seniors (35 percent) say ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ well. When asked whether the Medicare drug benefit would help them personally, more seniors say…

  • Campus & Community

    Investigating phenomenon of sleep

    Alexander Schier’s transparent fish are helping him understand the basic secrets of human development: how early embryonic cells communicate so that some develop into heart tissue, some into brain cells, and others into tissues that form the rest of the body.

  • Science & Tech

    Cigarette manufacturers developed candy-flavored brands to target youth

    Despite assurances from cigarette makers that they no longer target the youth market, Harvard School of Public Health researchers found that new brands are being marketed to young smokers and racial/ethnic groups using colorful and stylish packaging and exploiting adolescents’ attraction to candy flavors. The study appears in the November/December 2005 issue of the journal,…

  • Campus & Community

    Coffee gets cleared of blood pressure risk

    Harvard researchers set out to test the idea that a lot of coffee isn’t good for your circulation. They followed 155,000 female nurses for 12 years, questioning them regularly about their caffeine-drinking habits and their blood pressure. No connection was found between their coffee intake and a risky rise in blood pressure. In fact, results…

  • Science & Tech

    Space telescope captures cosmic ‘Mountains of Creation’

    Captured by the Spitzer Space Telescope’s infrared eyes, a new majestic image resembles the iconic “Pillars of Creation” picture taken of the Eagle Nebula in visible light by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in 1995. Both views feature star-forming clouds of cool gas and dust that have been sculpted into pillars by radiation and winds from…

  • Health

    Kids too often prescribed antibiotics for sore throat

    Each year, millions of children visit their family physician or pediatrician seeking treatment for sore throats. While a sore throat could indicate many common illnesses, physicians are often most concerned about bacterial infections that warrant antibiotic treatments. The most common cause of sore throat for which antibiotics are indicated is group A streptococcal pharyngitis, or…

  • Health

    Bacterium present in eyes with ‘wet’ age-related macular degeneration

    Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in Americans over the age of 55. The majority of vision loss is due to neovascular AMD, the advanced form of the disease characterized by the formation of blood vessels in the macula, the center part of the eye’s retina. These blood vessels often leak,…

  • Health

    Study: No psychological or cognitive deficits from peyote

    Researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital report that Native Americans who use the hallucinogen peyote regularly in connection with religious ceremonies show no evidence of brain damage or psychological problems. In fact, members of the Navajo tribe who regularly use peyote actually scored significantly better on several measures of overall mental health than did subjects from…

  • Campus & Community

    Tibetan artist creates ‘Wheel of Life’

    The Venerable Losang Samtens hands had to be steady as a surgeons as he engaged in the painstaking process of creating a Wheel of Life sand mandala. This masterful accomplishment took place during a weeklong residency recently at the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) at Harvard Divinity School (HDS). The mandala was…

  • Campus & Community

    AAAS recognizes six for efforts in advancing science

    The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has announced that six Harvard affiliates have been elected fellows.

  • Campus & Community

    Beinart sees new life for liberals on Web

    A new generation of liberals, galvanized by Howard Deans 2004 presidential campaign, are using the blogosphere to generate support and formulate tactics, and may soon make their impact felt on national politics.

  • Campus & Community

    Stowers Medical Institute names Eggan investigator

    Kevin Eggan, assistant professor of molecular and cellular biology at Harvard and a principal faculty member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, has been named an assistant investigator by the Stowers Medical Institute (SMI), which is based in Cambridge. Eggan and several members of his lab have become employees of SMI, but will continue to…

  • Campus & Community

    President’s office hours for Nov. 17

    President Lawrence H. Summers will hold office hours for students in his Massachusetts Hall office on the following dates:

  • Campus & Community

    Robert Turner: From sea to photogenic sea

    The Harvard Museum of Natural History is presenting Robert Turner: Rare Places in a Rare Light. This traveling exhibition, which opens on Saturday (Nov. 5), features the richly detailed images of wild American landscapes by fine art landscape photographer Turner. Drawing upon 20 years of experience in film, Turner has assembled a stunning collection of…

  • Campus & Community

    Du Bois Institute announces 19 fellows for 2005-06

    Henry Louis Gates Jr., director of Harvards W.E.B. Du Bois Institute and chair of the Department of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, has announced the appointment of 19 new fellows for the 2005 – 06 academic year.

  • Campus & Community

    Weissman interns celebrate with benefactors

    The big day finally arrived, and Paul and Harriet Weissman couldnt have been happier.

  • Campus & Community

    Gingerich to take up ‘God’s Universe’ at Noble Lectures

    Owen Gingerich, professor of astronomy and of the history of science emeritus at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and author of The Book Nobody Read, the story of Nicholas Copernicuss great work De revolutionibus, will deliver Harvards prestigious William Belden Noble Lectures in three parts, Nov. 14, 15, and 16 at 8 p.m. in the…

  • Campus & Community

    Six receive Hunn Award for outreach

    Six alumni/ae were recognized for their outstanding Schools and Scholarships work during an awards ceremony on Oct. 28.

  • Campus & Community

    IQSS, HSPH welcome four visiting scholars

    Harvards Institute for Quantitative Social Science (IQSS) and the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have announced the arrival of four new visiting scholars as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Scholars in Health Policy Research Program. This is a two-year postdoctoral fellowship program for outstanding new…

  • Campus & Community

    Harvard wins Global Innovator Award

    Harvard has won a CoreNet Global Innovator Award for its success in managing capital projects and controlling risk.

  • Campus & Community

    GE’s senior VP becomes fellow at KSG, HLS

    General Electrics (GE) Senior Vice President for Law and Public Affairs Ben W. Heineman Jr. will become a senior fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government this coming February. At that time, Heineman will also become the first Distinguished Senior Fellow at Harvard Law Schools Program…

  • Campus & Community

    Iraq’s ambassador to UN hopeful about democracy

    Feisal Amin al-Istrabadi, Iraqs ambassador and deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, provided an inside look at the writing of the Iraqi constitution and the future of the democratic process Monday (Oct. 31) at the Kennedy School of Government.

  • Campus & Community

    George Widmer Thorn

    George Widmer Thorn (GWT) was born in Buffalo, NY, January 15, 1906. He was the son of George W. and Fanny Widmer Thorn. George senior was involved in the food industry and retired early at the height of the depression. However, in 1923 he was able to send GWT, age 17, to Wooster College, Ohio.

  • Campus & Community

    Sports in brief

    Dawson wows, plows Dartmouth to reset Harvard bar for yards Junior tailback Clifton Dawson finished off the visiting Big Green this past Saturday with 223 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns to replace Chris Menick ’00 as Harvard’s all-time career rushing leader. Dawson, who surpassed Menick’s record by five yards with 3,335, also tallied his 40th…

  • Campus & Community

    Fresh faces beat Colonials

    With five key skaters from last seasons squad either gone for good due to graduation (national scoring leader Nicole Corriero and top defender Ashley Banfield), or out for the year chasing Olympic gold (U.S. national team hopefuls Julie Chu 06 and Caitlin Cahow 07, and Canadian Sarah Vaillancourt 08), the Harvard womens hockey team looked…

  • Campus & Community

    In brief

    RMO workshop to cover electronic recordkeeping Harvard’s Records Management Office (RMO) is offering one of its fall workshops on electronic recordkeeping Nov. 9 at 10 a.m. in Pusey Library. The 45-minute presentation will provide University staff with practical guidance on filing systems, filing rules and procedures, and equipment and supplies, and includes a new presentation…

  • Campus & Community

    Newsmakers

    HBS profs awarded paper prize Harvard Business School (HBS) Associate Professors Lee Fleming and Jan W. Rivkin, with co-author Olav Sorenson, have won a 2005 European Meeting on Applied Evolutionary Economics Best Paper Award for “Complexity and the Diffusion of Knowledge.” Fleming has also received the 2005 Richard R. Nelson Prize for his paper “Science…

  • Campus & Community

    Kokkalis Program calls for fellowship applications

    The Kokkalis Program on Southeastern and East-Central Europe at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG) strives to provide individuals committed to invigorating the public sector in Southeastern and East-Central Europe with educational opportunities to explore effectual and pioneering means of governance. The program awards fellowships to enable individuals from the region to pursue one of…

  • Campus & Community

    The Big Picture

    When Steven Riel talks about his life, much of what he relates sounds like poems waiting to happen.