Biologists long have been fascinated by the ability of salamanders to regrow entire limbs. Now Harvard researchers have solved part of the mystery of how they accomplish this feat — by activating stem cells throughout the body, not just at the injury site.
In a new paper published in the…
You might call it the case of the missing carbon.
It was the 1980s. Scientists knew roughly how much carbon dioxide (CO₂) was being emitted globally by humans burning fossil fuels and by natural processes such as volcanos. They also knew how much CO₂ was in the atmosphere. These data…
Educators’ concerns are running high when it comes to AI and how it may undermine teaching and learning. But what if teachers could find ways to use AI to measurably help students learn, rather than simply do their work for them?
Across campus, professors are experimenting with AI “tutor…
Why are there gaps in the asteroid belt?
The answer can be found in dynamical systems, the branch of mathematics that deals with the evolution of chaotic systems over time. The field was the subject of a recent Harvard Radcliffe Institute talk by Laura DeMarco.
“It turns out…
It is hard to gross out Mary Roach, but not impossible.
The science writer’s books have explored uncomfortable topics ranging from the afterlife of cadavers to the physiology of sex to the “alimentary canal” running from your mouth to your anus. She once visited a “body farm” in…
The fastest-growing demographic of internet users is people age 60 and older, but the group’s behavior online is poorly understood — and often stereotyped.
That’s according to John Palfrey, former executive director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society and a visiting…
Mistreating a dog may come back to bite you.
Scientists have long known that childhood abuse, neglect, and trauma can have lifelong consequences in humans. Now, a study by Harvard scientists links early adversity to similar effects in our oldest domesticated species.
In a study of nearly…
What does the rise of artificial intelligence mean for humanity? That was the question at the core of “How is digital technology shaping the human soul?,” a panel discussion that drew experts from computer science to comparative literature last week.
The Oct. 1 event was the first from…
In the grand story of evolution, the crowning human distinction is our big brain. But our large heads have been slow to recognize a less admirable trait of Homo sapiens — self-centeredness.
The human presumption of superiority and entitlement to exploit the natural world is deeply rooted…
Britain’s leader encouraged his global counterparts to continue pushing for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine at the start of a virtual meeting Saturday intended to end the fighting between the two countries.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told a virtual meeting of mostly European…