Cambridge

A member of the National Guard, center, administers the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to a farmworker.

Vaccine mandates aren’t new. But do they work?

With lagging vaccine campaigns and threats of the new delta variant, some world leaders are prompted to impose vaccine mandates.

Vaccine mandates aren’t new. But do they work?
An elderly man is shown wearing a blue jacked with two kids running nearby and an painting of a hand holding a candle on the wall.

How poetry has helped a hospital chaplain in the pandemic

How poetry has helped a hospital chaplain in the pandemic
“Tear down the walls of ignorance and narrow-mindedness,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told graduates at the 368th commencement ceremony at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, May 30, 2019.

From 'mein Mädchen' to 'leader of the free world,' Angela Merkel is winding down her political career

From 'mein Mädchen' to 'leader of the free world,' Angela Merkel is winding down her political career
Craft urban foraging

Online map helps city dwellers find wild produce growing in their neighborhoods

Online map helps city dwellers find wild produce growing in their neighborhoods
The “Copenhagen Wheel” is designed to help give riders a boost up steep hills like in San Francisco. Cyclists still have to pedal to get the extra thrust.

Is the e-bike revolution ready to come to America?

Is the e-bike revolution ready to come to America?
Before the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, five states had "red flag" statutes called gun violence restraining orders. Recently, Florida became the six state to add the statute.

Researchers still struggle to get funding to study gun violence

Any potential money is barred by a congressional act known as the Dickey Amendment, which mandates that none of the funds available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would be “used to advocate or promote gun control."

Researchers still struggle to get funding to study gun violence
A drummer performs during a celebration of Sahrul, a festival of flowers, in Ranchi, India. Recently, the findings were released from a study that played snippets of songs from 86 small remote societies to online listeners in 60 countries to see if shares

New findings explore the universality of music, features that are recognizable across cultures

Take away the words and familiar instruments. Would you still be able to identify a type of song just by the melody or rhythm of a song?

New findings explore the universality of music, features that are recognizable across cultures
Taiwo Ajai-Lycette in HEAR WORD!  Naija Woman Talk True, a play that challenges some of the central tenants of the #MeToo movement.

#MeToo echoes through play about Nigeria: ‘I am a force, a tidal wave, and I won’t hide’

Nigerian playwright Ifeoma Fafunwa tells stories of sexual harassment. But her latest work puts the onus on women to fight their oppressors.

#MeToo echoes through play about Nigeria: ‘I am a force, a tidal wave, and I won’t hide’
A soft robotic system that gently tugged on the esophagus of a pig proved to elongate the organ by 10 millimeters.

New mechanical cell-manipulation technique could provide pathways into fixing disorders — even cancer

Could a study in which a pig's esophagus was elongated using a soft robotic system for nine days really help lead to a cure for cancer? It's actually not that much of a stretch.

New mechanical cell-manipulation technique could provide pathways into fixing disorders — even cancer
A flyer in New York City offering accent reduction classes

Why people are still trying to 'lose' their accents

English is spoken with countless accents by both native and non-native speakers. But a hierarchy of accents persists. So whether you're from Thailand or Tennessee, accent reduction may be a goal.

Why people are still trying to 'lose' their accents
British primatologist Jane Goodall

Dr. Jane Goodall on her work with chimpanzees, and the new documentary ‘JANE’

“The magic of being able to interact with creatures who'd been running away from you for almost a year was something real special, and that comes out very strongly in this film,” Dr. Goodall says.

Dr. Jane Goodall on her work with chimpanzees, and the new documentary ‘JANE’
The work of Rainer Weiss and colleagues fundamentally alters our understanding of the universe.

Meet the Nobel Laureate who detected ripples in the fabric of space and time

Weiss and colleagues dreamed up the idea behind a massive antenna so sensitive it detects faint, invisible ripples in space from 1.3 billion years ago - offering evidence of Einstein's theory of general relativity.

Meet the Nobel Laureate who detected ripples in the fabric of space and time
Chelsea Manning pictured in a photograph published to her Twitter account on May 18.

Harvard called 'cowardly' for rescinding offer to Chelsea Manning after pressure from veterans

Whistleblower Chelsea Manning is at the center of a dispute after Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government invited, then disinvited her to become a visiting fellow.

Harvard called 'cowardly' for rescinding offer to Chelsea Manning after pressure from veterans
Pro-DACA protests

This Harvard professor became a US citizen and hours later, was in handcuffs

One of the first public acts of this new US citizen was to get arrested in support of the rights of DACA recipients.

This Harvard professor became a US citizen and hours later, was in handcuffs
Lindsay Smith Zrull carefully places a glass plate photograph of the sky on a lightbox in the Plate Stacks room at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

A team of women is unearthing the forgotten legacy of Harvard’s women ‘computers’

An archivist found more than 2,000 notebooks left behind in Harvard University storage for 50 years. Now, she’s working to make sure the notebooks from Harvard’s first women astronomers are available to the world.

A team of women is unearthing the forgotten legacy of Harvard’s women ‘computers’