New laser hits mark on cancer imaging to airport security

Harvard researchers have developed a totally new type of laser that can reach terahertz frequencies offering short-range, high-bandwidth wireless communications, very-high-resolution radar, and spectroscopy.

Leah Burrows | Nov. 15, 2019 | harvard

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~7 mins   

Tags: science-technology electromagnetic-spectrum engineering federico-capasso laser physics terahertz-frequencies tunable-terahertz-laser

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

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~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

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~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

Better delivery system for sending chemo to cancerous lung tissue

A new technique called ELeCt (erythrocyte-leveraged chemotherapy) can transport drug-loaded nanoparticles into cancerous lung tissue by mounting them on the body’s own red blood cells.

Lindsay Brownell | Nov. 13, 2019 | harvard

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~8 mins   

Tags: science-technology basic-research biodegradable-polymer cancer chemotherapy elect engineering erythrocyte-leveraged-chemotherapy john-a-paulson-school-of-engineering-and-applied-sciences lung-cancer trojan-horse wyss-institute-for-biologically-inspired-engineering

Evolution more complex than ‘survival of the fittest’ had us believe

By re-barcoding the DNA of yeast, researchers were able to follow evolution for approximately 1,000 generations, finding surprises along the way.

Clea Simon | Nov. 13, 2019 | harvard

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~4 mins   

Tags: science-technology alex-n-nguyen-ba barcoding dna evolution ivana-cvijovic michael-desai organismic-and-evolutionary-biology physics yeast

How the brain regulates variability in motor functions

Research suggests that errors resulting from variability in motor function are a feature, not a bug, of our nervous system and play a critical role in learning.

Leah Burrows | Nov. 7, 2019 | harvard

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~5 mins   

Tags: science-technology basic-research motor-function nervous-system regulate-variability variability

Researchers able to improve, reverse age-related diseases in mice

Wyss Institute, Harvard Medical School study offers hope for single genetic treatment for multiple age-related ills.

Lindsay Brownell | Nov. 4, 2019 | harvard

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~6 mins   

Tags: science-technology basic-research diabetes george-church health heart-failure kidney-failure lindsay-brownell noah-davidsohn obesity rejuvenate-bio wyss-institute-for-biologically-inspired-engineering-at-harvard-university-and-harvard-medical-school

First flight of RoboBee powered by soft muscles

Researchers have developed a resilient RoboBee powered by soft artificial muscles that can crash into walls, fall onto the floor, and collide with other RoboBees without being damaged.

Leah Burrows | Nov. 4, 2019 | harvard

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~5 mins   

Tags: science-technology harvard-john-a-paulson-school-of-engineering-and-applied-science harvard-microrobotics-laboratory robobee soft-actuator

Researcher analyzes effects of climate change on productivity

Environmental and developmental economist Patrick Behrer is tracking the health effects of working in an extremely hot environment and the ripple effects on the economy.

Colleen Walsh | Nov. 1, 2019 | harvard

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~8 mins   

Tags: science-technology climate-change climate-change-solutions-fund jisung-park patrick-behrer

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

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~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