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Particulate matter that is 2.5 microns or less in diameter (PM2.5), the kind emitted from smokestacks and tailpipes, is known to be especially harmful. Reductions in such pollution lead to increased life expectancy. In Boston between 1980 and 2000, for example, as PM2.5 concentrations dropped from 18 to 11 micrograms per cubic meter, local average life expectancy climbed four years. Of that increase, four-tenths of a year—or 10 percent of the total gain—was attributable to improved air quality.

Clean Air, Longer Life

Controls on fine particle pollution extended average lifespan in the United States by five months between 1980 and 2000.

by Jonathan Shaw

News and Notices

Harvard Club and SIGs news

A human fibroblast—part of the body’s connective tissue—sits on a bed of vertical nanowires in this image from a scanning electron microscope. Hongkun Park and his colleagues hope that the nanowires, which penetrate the cell without harming it, can be a way to introduce genes into cells without the use of an engineered virus or invasive delivery method. One application could be adding a set of genes to fibroblasts that “reprogram” them to act like stem cells.

Untangling the Brain

Three Harvard scholars trained in chemistry and physics pursue innovative approaches and tools that address problems in neuroscience.

by Courtney Humphries

<em>The City Square,</em> 1937, a scene design by Natalia Goncharova for <em>Le Coq d’Or</em>

Diaghilev and His Geniuses

The Harvard Theatre Collection opens an exhibition and hosts a symposium on Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes.

by Craig Lambert

Pete Seeger, shown singing in an undated photo, traveled light, always ready to make music.

The Bible and the Almanac

How Pete Seeger got his start: an excerpt from Alec Wilkinson's new biography, The Protest Singer

Jonathan Newmark's inaugural CD

Life in Counterpoint

Jonathan Newmark balances his day job and his music.

by Krysten A. Keches

Chasing Bogeys

A novel book on golf

U.S. district judge Nancy Gertner (left) listens as Linda Greenhouse ’68, formerly the Supreme Court reporter for the <em>New York Times,</em> questions Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

A Walk through History with Justice Ginsburg

The Supreme Court associate justice speaks at a Radcliffe Institute conference on gender and the law.

Andy Borowitz

April Fool Every Day

Comedian Andy Borowitz ’80 has moved from Hollywood success to a multifaceted life as a humorist in New York.

by Craig Lambert

Duck tamale on spinach salad with a warm bacon and mustard dressing from Chez Henri

Square Eats

Some nearby dining gems

by Nell Porter-Brown

That’s No Excuse! Countering Reunion Objections

...and some mechanisms to motivate attendance

A scanning electron microscope image reveals the porous nature of a bioengineered disk where immune cells can reside and be programmed for vaccination.

Fighting Disease in Situ

A new technique aims to boost the body’s ability to seek out and destroy cancer cells.