Science & Tech

All Science & Tech

  • Soft multifunctional robots get really small

    A team of researchers has created a soft, animal-inspired robot that can safely be deployed in difficult-to-access environments, such as in delicate surgical procedures in the human body.

  • Solving the problem of the calculus whiz

    New Harvard research challenges conventional wisdom on what it takes to excel in calculus.

  • The scope of TESS

    Harvard astronomer David Latham explains his role as science program director for NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite.

    David Latham
  • Deep into the wild

    Researchers used “deep learning” to identify images captured by motion-sensing cameras.

    Two cheetahs in the wild.
  • The Amazon as engine of diverse life

    Researchers believe that many of the plants and animals that call Latin America home may have their roots in the Amazon region.

    Alexandre Antonelli
  • ‘Aliens’ of the deep captured

    A new device developed by Harvard researchers safely traps delicate sea creatures inside a folding polyhedral enclosure and lets them go without harm using a novel, origami-inspired design.

  • Easing the way for students to ‘do’ science

    Robert Lue, principal investigator for the development of an online learning platform called LabXchange, aims to provide a virtual laboratory experience and social community for biology students.

    Robert Lue.
  • Mining Facebook data for science

    An organization co-created by Harvard scientists is set to release a massive trove of Facebook data, strictly for research purposes.

    Rows of office workers working on computers with data streaming.
  • Game-changing game changes

    Games that can change based on players’ actions help Harvard’s Martin Nowak and his fellow researchers to understand the evolution of cooperation.

    Martin Nowak.
  • Personality pressure

    Harvard researchers demonstrated a link between individual variation in risk-taking behavior and survival of animals in changing environments.

  • 150 years later, her star is still rising

    At Harvard College Observatory in the late 19th and early 20th century, Henrietta Swan Leavitt developed a powerful new tool for estimating the distances of stars and galaxies.

  • Swimming robo roach makes a splash

    Harvard’s Ambulatory Microrobot explores new surfaces.

    Harvard’s Ambulatory Microrobot.
  • How to feel the heat

    A team of researchers was able to show how sensory neurons in the face detect temperature, and how this information is later passed on to the hindbrain of zebrafish, where it is processed to produce behavior.

    Martin Haesemeyer, on left, and Florian Engerts
  • We solved the problem! Now let’s unsolve it.

    Harvard researcher Daniel Gilbert’s “prevalence-induced concept change” speaks to humankind’s conflicted relationship with progress.

    Man looking at globe with magnifying glass.
  • IT for social justice

    Keynote speakers at the eighth Harvard IT Summit focused on how technology can contribute to a more diverse, just, and civil society.

  • Eye-popping arachnids

    Harvard researchers examined mysteries of color in the spider species Phoroncidia rubroargentea.

  • Team plans industrial-scale carbon removal plant

    In a step to help fight global warming, Harvard Professor David Keith has a plan to repurpose existing technology to slash the costs of carbon capture.

  • Virtual lab to extend reach of science education

    Amgen and Harvard are teaming up to develop a free online education platform called LabXchange.

    Amgen Biotech Experience teachers work in the lab.
  • Creating piece of mind

    A graduate student, who had a baseball-sized brain tumor, was curious to see what his brain looked like before the tumor was removed. This led him to colleagues who collaborated on a new 3-D printing technique.

    Brain model
  • New light on dark matter

    Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics researchers explore dark matter particles that may carry an electric charge, and explain why that matters.

    Big Bang artwork
  • CRISPR’s breakthrough implications

    CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna discussed the gene-editing technology’s rapid spread and the need for a robust discussion about the ethics of its applications.

  • Carbon consumers

    Natural lab holds promise to transform understanding of deep-ocean carbon cycling, says Professor Peter Girguis.

    Researchers drill wells into the ocean floor.
  • Choosing partners or rivals

    A new study shows that in repeated interactions winning strategies involve either partners or rivals, but only partnership allows for cooperation.

    Illustration of businessmen shaking hands
  • From one, many

    Harvard research teams systematically profiled every cell in developing zebrafish and frog embryos to establish a roadmap revealing how one cell builds an entire organism.

  • Natural barcodes enable better cell tracking

    A group of Harvard researchers has developed a new genetic-analysis technique that harnesses “natural barcodes” to create what happens to cells when they are exposed to any kind of experimental condition, enabling large pools of cells from multiple people to be analyzed for personalized medicine.

    human B cells
  • Cells like we’ve never seen them before

    “This is the miracle of being able to see what we have never been able to see before,” said Harvard Medical School professor and study co-author Tomas Kirchhausen.

    Cells of a zebrafish eye, computationally "exploded."
  • Global power for global powers

    Liu Zhenya, chairman of the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization, gave a talk titled “The Art of Energy Revolution” at Harvard Law School.

  • Developing micron-sized magnetic resonance

    Harvard scientists have developed a system that uses nitrogen-vacancy centers — atomic-scale impurities in diamonds — to read the nuclear magnetic resonance signals produced by samples as small as a single cell — and they did it on a shoestring budget using a 53-year-old, donated electromagnet.

  • Applied mathematicians in Namibia

    What can termites teach us about designing green buildings? As it turns out, a lot.

    Termite mound
  • A decade on, a goal met; now, next targets

    The University-wide Sustainability Celebration marked more than a decade of the Harvard community’s collective achievements in holistically addressing sustainability to build a healthier campus community less dependent on fossil fuels.