How humans’ sense of ‘intuitive physics’ touches fictional worlds
A Harvard study is exploring the way humans’ sense of “intuitive physics” of the real world leaves fingerprints on the fictional universes we create.
Peter Reuell | Nov. 14, 2019 | harvard~8 mins
Tags: science-technology faculty-of-arts-and-sciences fas fiction fictional-worlds frogs harvard imagination intuitive-physics intuitive-psychology levitating levitating-frogs magic peter-reuell physics reuell stone tomer-ullman turn-to-stone ullman
Mammalian vertebral columns may reflect pace of evolution
Researchers find clues to evolution in the intricate mammalian vertebral column.
Jed Gottlieb | Nov. 14, 2019 | harvard~4 mins
Tags: science-technology basic-research fas jed-gottlieb katrina-jones mammals museum-of-comparative-zoology nature-communications oeb organismic-and-evolutionary-biology paleontology stephanie-pierce vertebral-column
New drug-detecting tool could help save lives
The landscape of the illegal drug trade changes constantly, particularly amid the current opioid crisis. Law-enforcement officers regularly find or confiscate pills, powders, and other substances and need to know their composition as quickly as possible to determine legal charges and sometimes to issue lifesaving warnings. Carfentanil is a case in point. This cousin to […]
Caitlin McDermott-Murphy | Nov. 13, 2019 | harvard~7 mins
Tags: health-medicine basic-research caitlin-mcdermott-murphy cambridge carfentanil chemistry christoffer-abrahamsson dea drug-analysis drug-enforcement-administration engineering-technology fas fentanyl forensic-science george-whitesides law-enforcement opioid-epidemic
After his wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Arthur Kleinman shares what he learned
Harvard Professor Arthur Kleinman’s wife, Joan, began to struggle with a rare form of early Alzheimer’s disease at 59. Eight years after losing her, he chronicles their journey in “The Soul of Care: The Moral Education of a Husband and a Doctor.”
Jill Radsken | Oct. 31, 2019 | harvard~10 mins
Tags: health-medicine the-soul-of-care alzheimers arthur-kleinman caregiving fas health-care hms jill-radsken medical-anthropology psychiatry
Gene flow between butterfly species offers clue to biodiversity
An analysis of 20 butterfly genomes found evidence that many butterfly species — including distantly related species — show a surprisingly high amount of gene flow between them, Harvard researchers found.
Peter Reuell | Oct. 31, 2019 | harvard~6 mins
Tags: science-technology butterfly edelman faculty-of-arts-and-sciences fas gene-flow genes genome genomes harvard heliconius hybrid hybridization introgression james-mallet mallet michael-miyagi miyagi nate-edelman peter-reuell reuell
Built for distance and speed, Tunabot can illuminate how fish move
Scientists from Harvard and the University of Virginia have developed the first robotic tuna that can accurately mimic both the highly efficient swimming style of tuna, and their high speed.
Peter Reuell | Oct. 23, 2019 | harvard~5 mins
Tags: science-technology biomechanics faculty-of-arts-and-sciences fas fish george-lauder harvard lauder peter-reuell reuell robot robot-fish robotics science-robotics swimming tuna tunabot
Discovery of object with multiple stars offers an opportunity for insight into our own planet
Planets that are even a little like Earth are hard to find. That’s why when astronomers like Jennifer G. Winters come across a body that may be solid, rocky, and possibly have its own atmosphere, they get excited. And especially so in a case like this: For although it is statistically unlikely to host life
Clea Simon | Oct. 23, 2019 | harvard~5 mins
Tags: science-technology clea-simon dwarf-planets fas harvard-smithsonian-center-for-astrophysics jennifer-winters planets science
In ‘Why Trust Science?’ Naomi Oreskes explains why the process of proof is worth trusting
Harvard Professor Naomi Oreskes, author of "Why Trust Science?," discusses the five pillars necessary for science to be considered trustworthy, the evidentiary value of self-reporting, and her Red State Pledge.
Jill Radsken | Oct. 22, 2019 | harvard~13 mins
Tags: science-technology merchants-of-doubt climate-change fas history-of-science jill-radsken naomi-oreskes red-state-pledge why-trust-science
Harvard scientists use optical tweezers to capture ultracold molecules
Using precisely focused lasers that act as “optical tweezers,” Harvard scientists have been able to capture and control individual ultracold molecules – the eventual building-blocks of a quantum computer – and study the collisions between them in more detail than ever before.
Peter Reuell | Oct. 2, 2019 | harvard~6 mins
Tags: science-technology center-for-ultracold-atoms doyle faculty-of-arts-and-sciences fas harvard john-doyle kang-kuen-ni lasers molecular-tweezers molecules ni optical-tweezers peter-reuell quantum quantum-computer quantum-science-and-engineering-initiative reuell science tweezers ultracold-atoms ultracold-molecules
Study finds gut microbes adapt quickly to changes in food preparation
Scientists have recently discovered that different diets — say, high-fat versus low-fat, or plant-based versus animal-based — can rapidly and reproducibly alter the composition and activity of the gut microbiome, where differences in the composition and activity can affect everything from metabolism to immunity to behavior.
Clea Simon | Oct. 2, 2019 | harvard~8 mins
Tags: health-medicine clea-simon cooking fas gut-microbiome human-evolutionary-biology katia-chadaideh-corinne-f-maurice kylynda-bauer nature-microbiology peter-turnbaugh rachel-carmody vayu-maini-rekdal
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