Archive: 2017

No, I don’t mean Matthew McConaughey. A few weeks ago, our first interstellar visitor flew nearby Earth and now is on its way back out of our solar system. While these types of extra-solar system objects have long been expected to exist as a bi-product…

The world is currently experiencing its sixth mass extinction event. Species are disappearing at an estimated 1000x the expected normal rate of extinction (roughly 5 species per year). Conservation efforts around the world are trying to reduce the rate…

A first link between chronic stress, genetics, and mental illness has recently observed in mice. Researchers have discovered that the genes of mice exposed to chronic stress change over time. Modifications were most associated with genes related to a…

CRISPR 2.0 is causing quite the ruckus in the scientific community. Why? Imagine that you had written a note in permanent marker, but later decided you wanted to change a single word. Without the ability to erase, your options would be limited, and…

Time: 7-9 p.m., Wednesday, November 8th Location: Armenise Amphitheater at Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston (link to directions) Speakers: Michael Miyagi and Malinda McPherson At first glance, it seems like we all know what sex is.…

Albert Einstein predicted the observation of gravitational waves from the merger of black holes over a century ago. This astrophysical phenomenon remained elusive, however, until their detection at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory…

The LIGO collaboration has reported the merger of two neutron stars. Another collaboration (Virgo) was able to detect the signal. Scientists were able to make a tighter estimate on where the merger happened. The merger suggests gravity propagates at the…

Time: 7-9 p.m., Wednesday, November 1st Location: Armenise Amphitheater at Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston (link to directions) Speakers: Nava Gharaei, Kalki Jukreja, and Jenny Zheng All the cells in our body have the same DNA, and…

Time: 7-9 p.m., Wednesday, October 25th Location: Armenise Amphitheater at Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston (link to directions) Speakers: Emily Kerr and Justin Teesdale Over the last few years, electricity generation from renewable…

Developing cancer drugs is challenging. Often, scientists will find a drug that kills cancer cells in a petri dish but fails to act on an actual tumor. Ravid Straussman from the Weizmann Institute of Science and Todd Golub from Harvard Medical School…