Aizenberg named McKay Professor of Materials Science
Joanna Aizenberg, a leader in the analysis of unique biomaterials that have evolved to carry out multiple functions in some organisms, has been appointed Gordon McKay Professor of Materials Science in...
View ArticleFinding ingenious design in nature
“This,” Joanna Aizenberg says slyly, picking up a latticed tube from her desk in Pierce Hall, “is a glass house you can throw stones at.” The tube, tapered to a close at one end and festooned with a...
View ArticleScientists explore nature’s designs
As a graduate student, Harvard physical chemist Joanna Aizenberg acquired a passionate curiosity about — of all things — sponges. She particularly liked the ones made of glass, whose apparent fragility...
View ArticleResearchers control the assembly of nanobristles into helical clusters
From the structure of DNA to nautical rope to distant spiral galaxies, helical forms are as useful as they are abundant in nature and manufacturing alike. Researchers at Harvard’s School of Engineering...
View ArticleNature’s fine designs
Starting with bacteria and blue-green algae, nature has been busy making things for at least 3.5 billion years. The success and longevity of its processes make biology worth studying as a source of...
View ArticleRadcliffe names 48 new fellows
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University has announced the 48 women and men selected to be Radcliffe Institute fellows in 2010–11. These creative artists, humanists, scientists,...
View ArticleSEAS student awarded fellowship
The Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Fellowship program, a $22.7 million program to support outstanding students pursuing graduate training in the sciences, received an infusion of $12.5...
View ArticleSlimy secrets
By rethinking what happens on the surface of things, engineers at Harvard University have discovered that Bacillus subtilis biofilm colonies exhibit an unmatched ability to repel a wide range of...
View ArticleWhat’s in a liquid
Materials scientists and applied physicists collaborating at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have invented a new device that can instantly identify an unknown liquid. The...
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Plant offers slick strategy
After a rain, the cupped leaf of a pitcher plant becomes a virtually frictionless surface. Sweet-smelling and elegant, the carnivore attracts ants, spiders, and even little frogs. One by one, they...
View ArticleWyss Institute project targets sepsis
The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard has been awarded a $12.3 million, four-year grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a treatment...
View ArticleNow, ice won’t stick
A team of researchers from Harvard University has invented a way to keep metal surface free of ice and frost. The treated surfaces quickly shed even tiny, incipient condensation droplets or frost,...
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Giving slime the slip
Biofilms may no longer have any solid ground upon which to stand. A team of Harvard scientists has developed a slick way to prevent the troublesome bacterial communities from ever forming on a surface....
View ArticleTwo Harvard teams win energy grants
Two Harvard-led teams are among the 66 selected by the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) that will receive a total of $130 million in funding through its OPEN...
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New coating creates ‘superglass’
A new transparent, bioinspired coating makes ordinary glass tough, self-cleaning, and incredibly slippery, a team from Harvard University reported online July 31 in Nature Communications. The new...
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The watchword is innovation
This is the third of four reports echoing key themes of The Harvard Campaign, examining what the University is accomplishing in those areas. Innovation? That was not always one of Harvard’s goals....
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American Academy of Arts and Sciences elects 204 new members
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences today announced the election of 204 new members, including 16 from Harvard University. The new members include some of the world’s most accomplished scholars,...
View ArticleAizenberg named McKay Professor of Materials Science
Joanna Aizenberg, a leader in the analysis of unique biomaterials that have evolved to carry out multiple functions in some organisms, has been appointed Gordon McKay Professor of Materials Science in...
View ArticleFinding ingenious design in nature
“This,” Joanna Aizenberg says slyly, picking up a latticed tube from her desk in Pierce Hall, “is a glass house you can throw stones at.” The tube, tapered to a close at one end and festooned with a...
View ArticleScientists explore nature’s designs
As a graduate student, Harvard physical chemist Joanna Aizenberg acquired a passionate curiosity about — of all things — sponges. She particularly liked the ones made of glass, whose apparent...
View Article