After taking intro course in new concentration, alum sets up own lab

Sam Wattrus ’16, Ph.D. ’22, becomes the first human developmental and regenerative biology concentrator to establish an independent research lab.

Joelle Zaslow • harvard
March 13, 2023 ~6 min

How COVID lockdowns triggered changes in peregrine falcon diets – and what this means for urban pest control

Lockdown wasn’t good news for London’s peregrine falcons.

Ed Drewitt, PhD student studying the diet of urban peregrines, University of Bristol • conversation
March 10, 2023 ~7 min


Evolution, aging, and knee osteoarthritis

The same skeletal changes that allowed humans to walk upright make us vulnerable to knee osteoarthritis as we age, human evolutionary biologist says.

Anna Lamb • harvard
March 8, 2023 ~4 min

Human genome editing offers tantalizing possibilities – but without clear guidelines, many ethical questions still remain

Following the controversial births of the first gene-edited babies, a major focus of the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing was responsible use of CRISPR.

Gary Skuse, Professor of Bioinformatics, Rochester Institute of Technology • conversation
March 8, 2023 ~8 min

Blue ticks: what evolutionary theory tells us about the turmoil around social media verification

Signalling theory tells us lots about the way paid-for verification has disrupted the blue tick system.

Jonathan R Goodman, Researcher, Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge • conversation
March 7, 2023 ~8 min

Gut microbes found to help mend damaged muscles in mice

A Harvard-led study shows that the gut microbiota acts as the training camp for a class of immune cells that are recruited to heal muscle injury.

Ilima Loomis • harvard
March 6, 2023 ~9 min

Animal architecture: why we need to design buildings for wildlife as well as people

Our lives are intertwined with animals, insects and birds – we should consider them more when we design our cities.

Paul Dobraszczyk, Lecturer in Architecture, UCL • conversation
March 2, 2023 ~6 min

How debit cards helped Indonesia’s poor get more food

Replacing rice-bag delivery with digital card vouchers helps recipients get their intended supplies, researchers report.

Peter Dizikes | MIT News Office • mit
March 2, 2023 ~8 min


Wolf restoration in Colorado shows how humans are rethinking their relationships with wild animals

Less than a century ago, Colorado hunted, trapped and poisoned all the wolves within its borders. Today it’s restoring them – a change that reflects a profound shift in human thinking.

Christopher J. Preston, Professor of Philosophy, University of Montana • conversation
Feb. 28, 2023 ~9 min

Imagination makes us human – this unique ability to envision what doesn't exist has a long evolutionary history

By learning what parts of the brain are crucial for imagination to work, neuroscientists can look back over hundreds of millions of years of evolution to figure out when it first emerged.

Andrey Vyshedskiy, Professor of Neuroscience, Boston University • conversation
Feb. 23, 2023 ~10 min

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