New Horizons Newsroom 2014

CRISPR: Genome engineering with a purpose A new technology for engineering genomes called CRISPR has implications for human aging as well as the resurrection of certain extinct species, according to Harvard Medical School ...

A cosmic dead end? In March of this year, a group of researchers announced they had detected gravitational waves produced during a tiny instant as the big bang got under way. BICEP2, a telescope loca...

A hostile marriage and a poor diet: two strikes against health You’ve always felt bad after fighting with your spouse, but perhaps you brushed it off as a commonplace, harmless part of life. In fact, evidence suggests that marital discord is...

Unearthing new materials with the aid of machine learning Alán Aspuru-Guzik is building facial recognition software—for molecules. Aspuru-Guzik, a professor of chemistry at Harvard University, uses computers to explore chemical space...

The future requires sustainable transportation Imagine this: What if you could drive a car that is so intelligent that you never, when driving in a city, come across a red traffic light? But this is possible.” At the Sci...

What’s wrong with the GMO debate Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, are notoriously difficult to discuss. The underlying technology transfers genetic material from one organism to another or, in a more recen...

HPV infections drive increases in head and neck cancer Human papillomavirus (HPV) is changing the face of head and neck cancer. Once caused primarily by heavy tobacco or alcohol use, the majority of new head and neck cancers in the Uni...

The long-awaited dawn of neutrino astronomy arrives They weigh next to nothing, they move at more than 99 percent the speed of light and they have no electric charge. They can go straight through planets, usually without leaving a t...

Research consistently links violent video games to human aggression The link between human acts of violence, lack of empathy and time spent with graphically violent video games and films is so consistent that denying it is like “denying gravity,�...

Genome editing gives scientists the power to reorganize life Tools that would give scientists the ability to limit the spread of diseases, give creatures new traits, and even bring back extinct animals seem possible soon, thanks to ever more...

Bird’s the word: the evolution of vocal learning If someone calls you a “bird brain,” count yourself praised, not insulted. Neurobiologist Erich Jarvis can tell you just why this is so. For instance, why are parrots able to s...