Research
Severity of H1N1 Reassesed
The current H1N1 outbreak in the U.S. may be much less severe than originally anticipated, according to a recent study ...
NIH Approves Stem Cell Lines
Eleven lines of human embryonic stem cells produced by the Harvard-affiliated Children’s Hospital Boston were approved for federal research funding ...
Loneliness May Spread Contagiously
Laughter is supposedly contagious, but so is loneliness, according to a new article co-authored by Harvard Medical School professor and Pforzheimer House Master Nicholas A. Christakis.
Physicists Create Microscope
Members of Harvard’s physics department have created a quantum gas microscope that allows atoms to be observed individually at a temperature of five billionths of a degree above absolute zero.
Got Lice? Who cares!
Lice. Those nasty, hard to kill, infectious little creatures haunted your elementary school days. The memory alone must be making you genuflect for a match book to burn those suckers. Well, you might want to calm down. Richard J. Pollack, a research associate with the Harvard School of Public Health, says that head lice (Pediculus capitis) just aren't that big of a deal. And your elementary school principal, well he is probably among the ranks of school administrators nation-wide who overreact about these harmless creatures. FlyBy picked his brain yesterday (pun intended) about this bold assertion. Pollack estimated that on average there is one child absent from school from every elementary school in the country everyday due to the diagnosis or misdiagnosis of head lice. "Oh and I think that's conservative," he said. Pollack, who said he and his colleagues have screened over 10,000 school-children, characterized most of what people hear about the creatures, which live in the human head, as bunk. “As far as I can tell head lice does not impart any advantage to a child. There might be who knows," Pollack said (emphasis added). While he conceded it is "wild speculation" to suggest the head lice may be beneficial, he strongly emphasized the absence of any demonstrated health risks associated with head lice. So call up your teacher who embarrassed you in front of your 3rd grade class and tell him how wrong he was. Follow the jump to find out the facts surrounding head lice and to learn more about them than you ever expected to find interesting.
Most H1N1 Cases Go Unreported
The reported number of confirmed H1N1 “swine flu” cases nationwide is likely a considerable underestimation of the total sum of ...
Poision Victim Alleges Foul Play
An HMS research fellow says he doesn't think the toxins in his coffee were placed there accidentally.
Study Finds Vitamin D Deficiency in Kids
A high percentage of American children have low levels of vitamin D—a deficiency that could lead to a host of health problems, ranging from respiratory diseases to weak bones to the common cold.
Christakis’ Study To Survey Flu Students
Randomly selected Harvard undergraduates and their friends will report their popularity and flu-like symptoms as participants in a new Harvard ...
Scientists Discover 3D Genome Structure
A team of scientists at Harvard, MIT, the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and the University of Massachusetts Medical School announced yesterday that they have deciphered the three-dimensional structure of the human genome.
Project to Look For Autism Gene
With the aid of a $4.5 million federal grant, Harvard Medical School and two affiliates are embarking on a project to sequence the genes of 85 patients suffering from autism in the hopes of better understanding the causes of the mysterious disorder.
Findings Focus On Sustaining Weight
Overweight women still stand to gain much in long-term health if they maintain their above-average weight instead of letting more ...
