Letters

Cambridge 02138

January-February 2011

Features

Head to Toe

Daniel Lieberman tracks the evolution of the human head.

by Jonathan Shaw

Kermit Roosevelt

Brief life of a Harvard conspirator: 1916-2000

by Gwen Kinkead

Bernardo Flores, Rafael Tapajós, and Hannah Horowitz ’11 learn how to analyze data gathered from a weather balloon under the supervision of Professor Steven Wofsy

Models—and Mud—in Amazonia

Students grapple with the fate of the rainforest in a changing climate.

by Jonathan Shaw

Matthew Nock sits in his lab’s control room, where researchers record subjects’ behavioral and physiological responses during experiments. For example, they might measure whether people who engage in self-injury show greater emotional distress, in response to frustrating tasks, than people who do not. (Nock’s lab manager and a postdoctoral fellow are seen in the adjoining room through one-way glass.)

A Tragedy and a Mystery

Understanding suicide and self-injury

by Elizabeth Gudrais

RIGHT NOW Harvard research and ideas

Hyman professor of chemistry Charles Lieber has created a transistor so small it can be used to penetrate cell membranes and probe their interiors, without disrupting function. The transistor (yellow) sits near the bend in a hairpin-shaped, lipid-coated silicon nanowire. Its scale is similar to that of intra-cellular structures such as organelles (pink and blue orbs) and actin filaments (pink strand).

Virus-Sized Transistors

Chemist Charles Lieber and his colleagues have developed a nanoscale transistor so small it can enter, probe, and communicate with cells without harming them.

Who Is Poor?

A multidimensional poverty index, based on the ideas of Amartya Sen, reveals a different map of the world's poor.

Gaming the Emotions

At Children's Hospital Boston, a video game offers emotionally explosive youths methods of self-control.

John Harvard's Journal University news

The Corporation’s 360-Year Tune-Up

The senior governing board revises its "composition, structure, and practices."

Mike Way

A new squash coach has arrived from Canada.

Where the Women Are—and Aren’t

Highlights from a recent report on faculty development and diversity

Retiring from the Ranks

A quarter of the eligible senior faculty accept Harvard's retirement offer.

A Digital Public Library?

Leaders of research libraries, foundations, and national cultural institutions gathered at Harvard to discuss the feasibility of creating a national digital library.

Unifying Harvard’s Libraries

The Task Force on University Libraries recommends a coordinated management structure for the entire system.

Yesterday's News

Headlines from Harvard history

No Surprises

The University's annual financial report portrays an institution adapting to an era of reduced revenues and expenses.

Back to the Bond Market

The University's offerings will refinance debt and finance various capital projects.

Brevia

HBS building boomlet and innovation lab, Rhodes and Marshall Scholars, HMS Center for Primary Care, studying "institutional corruption," and other University news