Inquiry & Impact

The pursuit of knowledge through research, teaching, and learning, with impact at the FAS and beyond

Assignment: Walk that robot across campus
A yellow Boston Dynamics Spot robot is seen in a crosswalk on the Harvard University campus.

Assignment: Walk that robot across campus

Three robots walked into the Science Center, their human handlers trailing several feet behind. Within seconds, a crowd circled the cute one, a jaunty silver contraption.

The oyster’s invisible architects
A researcher extracts calcifying fluid form a live oyster.

The oyster’s invisible architects

For an oyster, creating an internal environment for calcification that forms its distinctive hard shell is essential. But new Harvard research has found that these bivalves may outsource the work.

Inside the very hungry brains of preschoolers
Chris Kuzawa

Inside the very hungry brains of preschoolers

Childhood is understood as a time to learn and grow. What Christopher Kuzawa’s research shows is that learning and growing are interconnected.

  • School
    School (field_school)
  • Topic
    Topics (field_topics)
  • People
    Audience (field_audience)
Fly ball!

Fly ball!

For more than a century, the fruit fly has been a workhorse of the biological sciences that has helped scientists to make fundamental breakthroughs in fields such as genetics and neuroscience.

Experiment asks: What helps trees resist climate change?

Experiment asks: What helps trees resist climate change?

This April, one thousand red oaks will be planted at Harvard Farm. The species, native to New England’s northern temperate climate zone, is increasingly threatened by drought and heat.

The atlas maker of the microscopic world

The atlas maker of the microscopic world

Throughout the history of biology, numerous discoveries stemmed from observing living systems, but seeing the innerworkings of living organisms presents challenges.

For policymakers, standing behind the curtain comes with risks

For policymakers, standing behind the curtain comes with risks

More than $198 billion in green investments were enacted under former U.S. President Joe Biden. But who reaped the political rewards from a set of policies that advanced renewable energy projects and green jobs across all 50 states?

How inflammation may prime the gut for cancer (external link)

How inflammation may prime the gut for cancer 

A study in mice suggests that even intestinal cells that appear healthy may hold epigenetic “memories” of earlier bouts of inflammation that can promote colon cancer later in life.