Science

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

Smiling woman stands beside a large skull in a display cabinet.

Don’t Call Stephanie Pierce A Paleontologist

From competing in youth gymnastics to studying tetrapods, the Harvard curator has always chased her curiosity.

by Laurel M. Shugart

Photograph courtesy of Harvard Kennedy School

Decisionmaking, Measured

A new interdisciplinary decision-science lab will host experiments from psychology, economics, and beyond.

Ralph Mitchell

Rx for the Books

McKay professor of applied biology Ralph Mitchell and postdoctoral fellow Nick Konkol work with preservation librarians to develop a test that can detect damaging mold in books before it becomes visible.

by Paul Gleason

This image shows small brown-fat cells—which burn energy as heat—interspersed among larger white-fat cells, which store energy. The former are stained brown here; their natural color, which results from the density of mitochondria, would not be visible in this thin cross-section of tissue. (The blue staining marks cell nuclei.)

The Fit Fat

Harvard Medical School’s Bruce Spiegelman studies brown fat, a little-known type of tissue with health-promoting potential.

by Elizabeth Gudrais

Does Thinking Make It So?

In The Cure Within, historian of science Anne Harrington explores the medical history of the mind-body connection.

by Erin O’Donnell

Life Sciences, Applied

Bioengineering--at the intersection of biology, medical science, and engineering--is where scientists Joseph Vacanti, Pamela Silver, Kit Parker, David Mooney, Joanna Aizenberg, and Radhika Nagpal are defining a new field.

by Courtney Humphries

Howard Stone with audience members

Sweet Science

Using chocolate as their medium, Harvard scientists illustrate principles of physics and chemistry for children and their parents at a free public lecture—samples included.

Tail of the panther chameleon, <em>Furcifer pardalis</em>, of Madagascar. The same species appears on the cover (below, right). Chameleons do not change color to match their backgrounds, but to communicate excitement, anger, fear, and other emotions.

Animals Speak Color

Kit Reed introduces an exhibition at the Harvard Museum of Natural History that reveals the different roles color plays in the animal and plant kingdoms.

by Christopher Reed

Decoding Diabetes

Elizabeth Gudrais reports on how discoveries in genetics, cell metabolism, and the study of small molecules point the way to new therapies and perhaps a cure for diabetes.

by Elizabeth Gudrais

High windows overlooking a courtyard reflect the Museum of Comparative Zoology. The low granite curbs among the trees frame skylights.

Labs, Size Large

The new Northwest Science Building at Harvard

Viral delivery of a three-transcription-factor cocktail has transformed pancreatic exocrine cells (blue) into scattered insulin-producing beta cells (red). A preexisting islet, or grouping of beta cells, is outlined at the upper left.

Stem-Cell Progress

Harvard researchers at the Stem Cell Institute achieve major breakthroughs.