Computational models show why staying home really is the best idea

COVID-19 has now forced most of us into our homes for weeks. A recent study highlighted the importance of staying at home in these crucial times, even if you’re feeling well: people with mild, limited or even no symptoms at all were estimated to have caused the majority of severe COVID-19 infections and the wide geographic spread of COVID-19. Continue reading Computational models show why staying home really is the best idea

A Tall Order: Using Machine Learning to Predict Height from Genetic Variation

A machine learning algorithm trained using 500,000 genetic profiles can predict the height of an individual within about one inch based solely on their genes. Such an algorithm shows great promise for accurate risk assessment of complex diseases and identifying targets for therapy. However, further validation is required to evaluate how the tool will extend to more genetically diverse populations, and standardized methods for assessing genetic variation are necessary. Continue reading A Tall Order: Using Machine Learning to Predict Height from Genetic Variation

A Centuries-Old Mathematical Puzzle May Finally Have an Answer

As kids, we are taught about the existence of prime numbers: numbers that are only divisible by themselves and one. The first few are easy to recognize just by counting: two, three, five… But the larger the counting goes, the less obvious the prime. The ability to predict where the prime numbers lay on the number line has haunted mathematicians and scientists for centuries, but … Continue reading A Centuries-Old Mathematical Puzzle May Finally Have an Answer

Crowdsourced Data Helps Scientists Construct the World’s Largest Family Tree

We cannot predict how long we each live, but can our genes? For as long as longevity has been a desirable good, it has never been equally distributed across humanity, not even within families. The role of heritable traits in longevity is still debated. Previous genomic studies have reported a low heritability for longevity. However, inadequate sample sizes prevent these studies from examining the influence of … Continue reading Crowdsourced Data Helps Scientists Construct the World’s Largest Family Tree

Performing a 51 qubit computation

Qubits, the quantum analog of a digital bit, are envisioned as the building blocks of the future of computation. The quantum bit is special because of its ability to be in simultaneous values of 0 and 1, while digital bits can only be a 0 or a 1, not both. The calculations of quantum problem become exponentially more difficult as larger qubit computations are required: … Continue reading Performing a 51 qubit computation

Experimenting with robots!

This is a short video of a robot in the Kishony and Springer labs at Harvard Medical School. We often conduct experiments that require watching what happens to microbes in a variety of conditions over time. This custom configured and programmed machine allows us to measure up to 44 plates for days at a time. It can collect over 500,000 data points a day, enabling … Continue reading Experimenting with robots!

Exploring Planets Near and Far

Presented by Anjali Tripathi How many planets are there? What are they like? In this lecture, we will talk about the variety of planets that are found beyond the Solar System. These so-called exoplanets have been discovered near and far, throughout the Galaxy. We’ll talk about the detection of these planets and their location in space, as well as their location relative to their host … Continue reading Exploring Planets Near and Far

Math in Nature: Finding order in chaos

Presented by Jessica Kunke, Lei Zhu, Stephen Portillo The natural world is so complex and unpredictable that it might seem math could never be a sufficient tool to understand it.  Our lecture aims to widen this view of math and explore how mathematical models and chaos theory give us insights into nature.  The first part of our lecture introduces the concepts of math models and … Continue reading Math in Nature: Finding order in chaos

Computer science graphic

The Universe in a (Pretty Big) Box: From Cells to Galaxies Using Supercomputers

Presented by Diego Munoz, Michael Long, and Amanda Peters Randles Scientific evidence indicates that the laws of physics are the same in systems throughout the entire Universe – whether those systems be microscopic, or intergalactic. Thus, the same principles apply here on Earth as in distant galaxies. Our understanding of, for example, fluid dynamics or gravity can be applied across boundaries that otherwise make different … Continue reading The Universe in a (Pretty Big) Box: From Cells to Galaxies Using Supercomputers

Designed intelligence: Field notes from the Turing Centenary Conference

The Turing Centenary Conference was held this June at Cambridge University. Cambridge had special significance for Alan Turing, as he spent his formative undergraduate years there and returned there shortly after his PhD. The conference brought together many well known researchers from theoretical computer science, mathematical biology, and philosophy — a fitting celebration for the diversity of Turing’s interests. There was a strand of ideas … Continue reading Designed intelligence: Field notes from the Turing Centenary Conference