Science & Tech

All Science & Tech

  • ‘Universal phenomenon’ shared by metastatic prostate tumors

    Prostate cancer progresses to a more-dangerous metastatic state by resurrecting dormant molecular mechanisms that had guided the fetal development of the prostate gland but had been subsequently switched off.

    Prostate cancer cells.
  • Getting to the bottom of goosebumps

    Researchers have found that the same cell types that cause goosebumps are responsible for controlling hair growth.

    The hair follicle under the microscope, with the sympathetic nerve in green and the muscle in magenta.
  • Better vaccines are in our blood

    New platform technology uses red blood cells to generate targeted immune responses in mice

    Syringe in vaccine bottle.
  • When a bird brain tops Harvard students on a test

    African grey parrot Griffin shows off his brain power, making students doubt their own.

    Irene Pepperberg with her parrot.
  • East Africa facing massive swarms of locusts

    Researcher looks to sequence the pest’s genome as part of push to find a safer alternative to dangerous pesticides

    Locusts filling the sky.
  • Is air conditioning helping spread COVID in the South?

    Harvard researchers, drawing on insights from tuberculosis research, say air conditioners may be a factor in COVID-19’s spread down South, and relatively inexpensive germicidal ultraviolet lights a weapon.

  • An expedition at the Arboretum

    The Arnold Arboretum’s new Expeditions Mobile App gives visitors an interactive experience with audio, text, and imagery — all in the palms of their hands.

    Visitors at Meadow Road in the Arnold Arboretum.
  • Nanofiber protects against extreme temperatures and projectiles

    Harvard University researchers, in collaboration with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center and West Point, have developed a lightweight, multifunctional nanofiber material that can protect wearers from both extreme temperatures and ballistic threats.

    Para-aramid nanofibers.
  • Lockdown? What lockdown?

    Cellphone mobility data shows that most Americans have put the coronavirus lockdown in the rearview mirror and are moving about at nearly the same rate as they were before the pandemic began, according to a Harvard epidemiologist who studies such data.

    Runners and mask on ground.
  • Microbes might manage your cholesterol

    Researchers discover mysterious bacteria that break it down in the gut.

    Emily Balskus.
  • Finding COVID clues in movement

    Tracking mobility of individuals offers hints of whether a problem is rising or falling.

    Person holding a smartphone.
  • Wyss Institute to accelerate drug testing for COVID treatment

    With a $16 million agreement from DARPA, Harvard’s Wyss Institute will use its technology to identify and test already FDA-approved drugs that may prevent or treat COVID-19 infection.

    Amir Bein checks a batch of human organ chips in the lab.
  • State of stasis

    Neuroscientists have discovered neurons that control hibernation-like behavior in mice, a finding that could translate into applications in humans, such as preventing brain injury during a stroke.

    Hibernating dormouse
  • An engineering approach to shape neuronal connections

    Precise control over neuron growth paves the way for repairing injuries, including those to the spinal cord, and improving brain models.

    Paola Arlotta.
  • A promise to a friend

    Wei Hsi “Ariel” Yeh dedicated her research in chemistry to solving some of the vast genetic mysteries behind hearing loss.

    Person wearing hearing aid.
  • The origin of things

    DNA-barcoded microbial spores can trace origin of objects, agricultural products.

    Green field.
  • Sleep, death, and… the gut?

    Fruit fly study finds death by sleep deprivation is preceded by the accumulation of unstable molecules known as reactive oxidative species in the gut.

    Pillows and sheets.
  • A new threat to bees

    Bee health experts Benjamin de Bivort and James Crall discuss the murder hornet threat and other dangers facing bees.

    Asian hornet.
  • Horizontal helper

    Cassandra Extavour and Leo Blondel provide the strongest suggestive evidence yet that at least part of a specific gene came from bacterial genomes.

    Cassandra Extavour.
  • Filling gaps in our understanding of how cities began to rise

    Genomic analysis shows long-term genetic mixing in West Asia before the rise of the world’s first cities

    Wall painting.
  • Gut microbiome influences ALS outcomes

    The researchers found that in mice with a common ALS genetic mutation, changing the gut microbiome could prevent or improve disease symptoms.

    Microscopic image showing inflammation.
  • Water beast

    New paper argues the Spinosaurus was aquatic, and powered by predatory tail.

  • CRISPR-based technology spots COVID-19

    The CRISPR-based molecular diagnostics chip’s capacity ranges from detecting a single type of virus in more than 1,000 samples at a time to searching a small number of samples for more than 160 different viruses, including the COVID-19 virus.

    Chip 1.
  • When tectonic plates began to shift

    Harvard researchers detect some of the earliest evidence for modern-like plate motion.

    Earth.
  • Wyss-designed swabs enter human trials for COVID-19

    The Wyss Institute has collaborated in the design of a new low-cost nasopharyngeal swabs that can be manufactured quickly to address the international shortage of swabs for testing and research.

    Nasal swabs.
  • In a photo of a black hole, a possible key to mysteries

    So little is known about black holes and the image hints at a path to a higher-resolution image and more and better data.

    Rings around a black hole.
  • Toward an unhackable quantum internet

    Harvard and MIT researchers have found a way to correct for signal loss with a prototype quantum node that can catch, store, and entangle bits of quantum information. The research is the missing link toward a practical quantum internet.

    Researchers working in lab.
  • Students come together with Congregate

    With the move to online classes, a group of Harvard students quickly formed a team and collaborated over spring break to develop Congregate, a web platform that enables users to host events or gatherings that are broken into many dynamically generated conversation rooms.

    The SEAS computer group.
  • ‘Faster protection with less material’

    Further research and development on a class of molecules called bisphosphonates might turbocharge a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus, and help bring immunity to huge populations more quickly.

    Professor Uli von Andrian.
  • Scientists map human protein interactions

    Scientists produce a reference map of human protein interactions, releasing data helpful for understanding diseases including cancer and infectious diseases such as COVID-19.

    Tissue-specific subnetworks.