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Physics

How this Long Bacterium Beats the Diffusion Limit

by Mara Casebeer Most bacteria, like the common E. coli, are around a micron in length – less than a tenth of the width of a strand of human hair and invisible without a microscope. Recently, scientists discovered a bacterium, Candidatus (Ca.)…

Edward Bouchet: Trailblazer, teacher, and public servant

Tamina Kienka is a third year student in the MD-PhD program at Harvard University. Jovana Andrejevic is a fifth-year Applied Physics Ph.D. student in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. Cover image by Gerd Altmann…

Edward Bouchet: Trailblazer, teacher, and public servant

by Tamina Kienka Edward Bouchet, Yale College class of 1874 In the fall of 1852, Edward Bouchet was born to a freed slave living in New Haven, Connecticut. His father worked as a laborer and his mother as a housewife. They were both active in their…

What Does A Theoretical Physicist Do?

How do you introduce yourself, scientifically? My name is David Kolchmeyer and I am a theoretical physicist. I’m interested in quantum gravity, which is a theory of gravity that obeys the rules of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics is…

Herman Branson: a pivotal figure in protein biology

Koby Ljunggren is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Biophysics Program at Harvard University. Abby Knecht is a second year graduate student in the Molecules Cells and Organisms program at Harvard University where she is studying self versus non-self…

Chien-Shiung Wu — A Heroic Experimental Physicist

by Xiaomeng Han Chien-Shiung Wu In the spring of 1912, a baby girl was born to a family in China. It was the family’s tradition that all the boys in the generation have the character “Chien” in their first names, followed by characters from the…

Donna Strickland: Life in the (ultra)fast lane

by Matthew Yeh Donna Strickland during Nobel press conference, 2018 Ever wondered how laser eye surgery can be so precise, or how scientists can study processes that unravel over a billionth of a billionth of a second? Donna Strickland has got you…