all Origins of Life Initiative stories

Bringing new meaning to the term scientific paper

404132862 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:00:57 -0400

An insight from the labs of Harvard chemist George M. Whitesides and cell biologist Donald Ingber is likely to make a fundamental shift in how biologists grow and study cells – and it’s as cheap and easy as reaching for a paper towel.

Kepler starts search for other Earths

50443248 — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:04:05 -0400

As NASA’s Kepler space telescope this week begins scanning the Milky Way for planets that might harbor life, scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) are keeping their fingers crossed and waiting for the data to start flowing.

Life in the universe? Almost certainly. Intelligence? Maybe not

50443248 — Tue, 12 May 2009 13:56:00 -0400

We are likely not alone in the universe, though it may feel like it, since life on other planets is probably dominated by microbes or other nonspeaking creatures, according to scientists who gave their take on extraterrestrial life at Harvard recently.

Speakers reviewed how life on Earth arose and the many, sometimes improbable steps it took to create intelligence here. Radio astronomer Gerrit Verschuur said he believes that though there is very likely life out there — perhaps a lot of it — it is very unlikely to be both intelligent and able to communicate with us.

Microbes thrive in harsh, isolated water under Antarctic glacier

50443248 — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:46:13 -0400

A reservoir of briny liquid buried deep beneath an Antarctic glacier supports hardy microbes that have lived in isolation for millions of years, researchers report this week in the journal Science.

Harvard fuels quest to create life from scratch

404132862 — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 08:44:51 -0400

Taking a stride toward synthetic life

50443248 — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 19:29:28 -0500

Harvard scientists have cleared a key hurdle in the creation of synthetic life, assembling a cell’s critical protein-making machinery in an advance with both practical, industrial applications and that advances the basic understanding of life’s workings.

Charbonneau gets prestigious ‘young researcher’ award

50443248 — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:59:36 -0500

David Charbonneau, the 34-year-old Thomas D. Cabot Associate Professor of Astronomy, has been named the recipient of the National Science Foundation’s 2009 Alan T. Waterman Award, and will receive $500,000 over a three-year period for scientific research or advanced study in his field.

Transit search finds super-Neptune

404132862 — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 12:46:32 -0500

Astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have
discovered a planet somewhat larger and more massive than Neptune
orbiting a star 120 light-years from Earth. While Neptune has a diameter
3.8 times that of Earth and a mass 17 times Earth's, the new world
(named HAT-P-11b) is 4.7 times the size of Earth and has 25 Earth
masses.

Biologists on verge of creating new life form

404132862 — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:47:33 -0400

A new era in search for ‘sister Earths’?

404132862 — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:27:28 -0400

Research presented at a recent astronomical conference is being hailed as ushering in a new era in the search for Earth-like planets by showing that they are more numerous than previously thought and that scientists can now analyze their atmospheres for elements that might be conducive to life.

Laser precision added to search for new Earths

404132862 — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:46:48 -0400

Harvard scientists have unveiled a new laser-measuring device that they say will provide a critical advance in the resolution of current planet-finding techniques, making the discovery of Earth-sized planets possible.

The discovery of planets outside of our solar system, called “exoplanets,” is one of the hottest fields in astronomy and holds great promise to increase our understanding of Earth’s solar system and of how life first took hold on this planet.

J. Craig Venter named visiting scholar

404132862 — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:22:11 -0500

J. Craig Venter, the visionary biologist and intellectual entrepreneur who was a leading figure in the decoding of the human genome, will join Harvard University as a visiting scholar at the University’s Origins of Life Initiative.

Venter, who left his last academic post in 1982, is founder and president of the J. Craig Venter Institute. He accepted the one-year appointment last week (Feb. 22). It starts March 1.