Science

Discover the scientific breakthroughs and engineering innovations being pioneered across Harvard’s labs and centers.

A bioengineered virtual human heart overlaid with jellyfish-like structures, symbolizing cardiac designs inspired by jellyfish motion

From Jellyfish to Digital Hearts

How Harvard researchers are helping to build a virtual model of the human heart

by Olivia Farrar

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

Harvard scholars study the Amazon rainforest under global climate change

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

by Jonathan Shaw

A skull session with human evolutionary biologist Daniel Lieberman in the fossil room at the Peabody Museum. Millions of years of natural selection have shaped the human head. From left to right: a Neanderthal; <i>Homo erectus; Homo habilis; Australopithecus africanus; Pan troglodytes</i> (common chimpanzee); <i>Homo sapiens</i> (human). “Gonzo,” a Neanderthal skeleton, stands in the back.

Harvard Professor Daniel Lieberman on the Evolution of the Human Head

Daniel Lieberman on how the human head shape evolved, and what it reveals about us

by Jonathan Shaw

A screen shot from the therapeutic video game RAGE Control (Regulate and Gain Emotional Control)

A video game for anger management and emotional control

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

by Erin O’Donnell

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).

Charles Lieber's nanoscale transistors can enter cells without harming them

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

by Jonathan Shaw

Warren Brown: Stars escaping the Milky Way help map matter in our galaxy

Stars escaping the Milky Way help Warren Brown and other astronomers map the distribution of matter in our galaxy.

Thick bunches of nerves leave the brain or spinal cord and branch intricately within muscle (fibers of which can be seen running vertically in the background at right). The inset image shows individual axons (yellow) connecting to single synapses (red). The red stain is a snake venom that binds only to muscle receptors; poisonous kraits use it to immobilize their prey.

Exercise and caloric restriction counter aging in neural synapses

Caloric restriction and exercise boost mental acuity and motor ability by rejuvenating synapses.

by Jonathan Shaw

Regenerative medicine paper retracted

An important paper in regenerative biology has been retracted after its senior author, associate professor of stem-cell and regenerative biology Amy Wagers, raised concerns.

Can an HIV-infected person safely have a child with an uninfected partner?

Can an HIV-infected person safely have a child with an uninfected partner? Harvard scholars highlight a new approach.

Michael Greenberg studies molecular-level memory formation and eRNA

Neurobiologist Michael Greenberg investigates how memories form at a molecular level, and discovers a new class of RNA.

Termites like this soldier, patrolling a piece of fungal comb, aerate and improve the soil near their mounds.

Robert Pringle says termite-mound distribution reveals ecosystem productivity

Robert Pringle says the grid-like distribution of Kenyan termite mounds helps answer an old question about ecosystems.

by Samuel Bjork