MetaFilter posts tagged with harvard

Did you even DOOO the reading?

jock@law — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:23:05 -0800

Do you feel disappointed in government? Does Obama seem a little too meek for the Presidency? Do you wish he'd make larger structural reforms? Maybe, suggests Matt Taibbi, there's an answer. Citing her ability to speak plainly and her extensive knowledge of the credit system, Taibbi suggests that Elizabeth Warren should run for President. Not in 2016, but in 2012.

The 'Democratization of Music.'

Lutoslawski — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:07:36 -0800

uPlaya uses algorithms to determine if a song will be a hit. Brought to you by Music Intelligence Solutions, the uPlaya software uses spectral deconvolution to rate a song on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being assurance that the song will be a hit. Ostensibly, the software can be used to sell new bands to record labels if a song achieves a ranking of platinum or better. According to Harvard Business School, the software is accurate 8 out of 10 times. The software is a finalist for the Creative Coast's Innovation Awards. A vodpod documentary about uPlaya. The uPlaya blog.

I prefer to think of it as a 'trolley opportunity'

grobstein — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 12:46:36 -0800

Michael Sandel's "Justice" has long been one of the most popular courses at Harvard. Now for the first time the class is being broadcast online. The site for "Justice." "Justice" is a wide-ranging introduction to issues in normative ethics and political morality that aims to work as a kind of supplementary civic education: "In a way, . . . the course [tries] to model what public discourse would be like if it were more morally ambitious than it is." The video series is an ambitious (and expensive) production, using multiple cameras to capture student discussion as well as Prof. Sandel's words.

Job perk: graze your cow in Harvard Yard

Rain Man — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:19:23 -0800

Harvard theologian grazes his cow in the Yard. Harvey Cox, recently retired as Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard, has exercised his customary right as holder of the oldest endowed chair in America to graze a cow in Harvard Yard. It's hard to tell who had a more unusual day: the professor, author of influential books like The Secular City and The Feast of Fools, or the cow, named Faith for the day, on a day visit from her home at The Farm School in Atholl, Massachusetts.

"This is what happens to black men in America."

ocherdraco — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:19:59 -0800

Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates was arrested for "breaking into" his own home.

test your your brain

not_on_display — Thu, 21 May 2009 10:53:55 -0800

Test My Brain was set up by Harvard's Vision Lab and Social Neuroscience and Psychopathology Lab. There are five tests online at the time of this post; take one and maybe you'll learn something about yourself that you may not have known (other than your special ability to slack off on MetaFilter when you should be working). At the same time, you'll be helping researchers collect data from a wide range of subjects. One of the collaborators, Professor Ken Nakayama, is also responsible for creating these online tests for faceblindness. [previously] [Disclaimer: I work at Harvard, but not in the same department; I know none of the collaborators.]

What Makes Us Happy?

allkindsoftime — Tue, 12 May 2009 08:23:50 -0800

Is there a formula—some mix of love, work, and psychological adaptation—for a good life? For 72 years, researchers at Harvard have been examining this question, following 268 men who entered college in the late 1930s through war, career, marriage and divorce, parenthood and grandparenthood, and old age. Here, for the first time, a journalist gains access to the archive of one of the most comprehensive longitudinal studies in history. What Makes Us Happy?

Harvard Beats Yale 29-29

kirkaracha — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:51:22 -0800

Harvard Beats Yale 29-29. At Harvard Stadium on November 23, 1968, the Yale and Harvard football teams met in their annual The Game, with both teams going into the game undefeated for the first time since 1909. Heavily-favored Yale was ranked #16 and was on a 16-game winning streak. Yale was leading 29-13 with 3:34 to play and had the ball. What could possibly go wrong? Harvard recovered a fumble on their 14, then scored a touchdown with a 2-point conversion, recovered an onside kick, scored another touchdown as the clock ran out, and scored another 2-point conversion. Footage of the game. Recap. What I learned at the Harvard-Yale Game [clearly not paragraphs]. Even though it ended in a tie, the Yale players took it as a devastating loss, and Harvard took it as a win. The Harvard Crimson's banner headline was "Harvard Beats Yale 29-29." Who came up with the headline? Backup quarterback Frank Champi led the Harvard comeback. Tommy Lee Jones was a Harvard offensive guard (Al Gore was his roommate). Yale quarterback Brian Dowling inspired "B.D." in Doonesbury. Yale tailback Calvin Hill was the 1969 NFL Rookie of the Year, beating O.J. Simpson. Yale teammate Bob Levin dated Vassar undergraduate named Meryl Streep. James Fallows worked on the Harvard Crimson. Kevin Rafferty, who directed Atomic Cafe, has a new documentary about the game. New York Times Q&A and NPR Fresh Air with Rafferty.

Videos of university courses

Kattullus — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:59:36 -0800

Academic Earth collects lectures on a wide variety of subjects from UC Berkely, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford and Yale that the universities have released under Creative Commons. The site is still in beta so it doesn't quite have the thousands of lectures its frontpage promises. It has many full courses, for example Benjamin Polak teaching game theory, Amy Hungerford on the American novel since 1945, Charles Bailyn's introduction to astrophysics, John Merriman on the history of France since 1871, Shelly Kagan on death and Oussama Khatib's introduction to robotics.

Pushing to the Future of Journalism

netbros — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:10:36 -0800

The Nieman Journalism Lab is a collaborative attempt to figure out how quality journalism can survive and thrive in the Internet age. At Harvard they are working with the Business School on new business models, the Berkman Center for Internet and Society on understanding online life, and the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations on one potential path for news organizations.

Samuel Huntington Dies

Glibpaxman — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 17:12:34 -0800

Samuel Phillip Huntington, best known for his work "Clash of Civilizations," died on December 24. Previously on the blue (here, here, here, and here)

Blind, Yet Seeing

grapefruitmoon — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 09:33:17 -0800

Blind, Yet Seeing : New research into blindsight from Harvard University and M.I.T. showing that people who have been blinded by brain injury have resources beyond sight to do such tasks as navigate an obstacle course (movie).

College Students Are Feeling the Squeeze

etaoin — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 08:16:35 -0800

The economic mess is squeezing everyone but many college students are really feeling it. Syracuse University has made an emergency appeal for aid for 400 current students who may not be able to return for the spring semester without an infusion of cash; Harvard University lost an incredible 22 percent of its very fat endowment but is trying to raise money through a $600 million bond issue. At least a dozen states are trying to balance their budgets by raising tuition, some at mid-term, bringing some protests. Of course, huge increases in costs are not new. And maybe exaggerated expectations of what colleges should provide play a role.

"Women hold up half the sky"--Chinese proverb

mothershock — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 09:58:11 -0800

Pickering and the Female Computers. In 1881, Edward Pickering, the director of the Harvard College Observatory, became so impatient with a male lab assistant’s work that he famously declared his maid could do a better job. Rather than take offense, his 24-year-old maid, Williamina Fleming, instead took him up on the offer. She ended up working at the Observatory for the next 30 years, supervising the tedious work of cataloging photographic plates, but also discovering variable stars and novae, helping to develop a classification system—and, perhaps even more importantly, hiring nearly 40 female assistants, many of whom went on to have distinguished scientific careers. These "computers," as they were called, were a bargain for Pickering: at first the women worked for free; after a number of years he rewarded them with a salary—about 30 cents an hour, roughly half of that of the men who did the same work. As he wrote in his 1898 annual report, the women computers were "Capable of doing as much good routine work as astronomers who would receive larger salaries. Three or four times as many assistants can thus be employed." (As a side note, the US Naval Observatory also employed female -- and male -- computers around the turn of the century. In 1906, the computers were paid equally, $1200 a year for both men and women. But only men had the opportunity for advancement, as, among other things, the most prestigious jobs at the USNO required a military commission, which wasn't available to women.) Thanks to Pickering and his maid, women were able to make an indelible contribution to science. The most notable astronomers to come from his lab were Antonia Maury, Annie Jump Cannon, and Henrietta Swan Leavitt. Their discoveries and innovation helped usher in an age of science and inquiry in astronomy, and helped pave the way for women in the field. Noted a student of the eminent astronomer Vera Rubin (who herself got her doctorate in astronomy at Georgetown University in 1954 by taking night classes while her husband waited for her in the car): “American astronomy became preeminent because of two discoveries: Hale discovered money and Pickering discovered women.”

Veri Angry

MarshallPoe — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 06:24:37 -0800

John H. Summers taught at Harvard. He didn't like the students much. And said so. Lots of Harvard students respond. Let the Wild Rumpus Start! (via AL Daily) The rumpus begins in the comments. Full disclosure: I taught in the Social Studies program at Hotrod as well. Bonus link: even Harvard students say they don't like Harvard.

Appendicitis In Popular Culture

cashman — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:03:57 -0800

Medpedia is coming. "In association with Harvard Medical School, Stanford School of Medicine, Berkeley School of Public Health, University of Michigan Medical School and other leading global health organizations, the Medpedia community seeks to create the most comprehensive and collaborative medical resource in the world." Apply to contribute content. "Only M.D.s, Ph.D.s in a biomedical field and people with medical credentials will be allowed to contribute to Medpedia." "How is Medpedia different from Wikipedia?" "Medpedia is also receiving content and cooperation from the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other government research groups."

What's the problem with Yale?

roomthreeseventeen — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:28:51 -0800

William Deresiewicz examines the pitfalls of an Ivy League education Apparently, the Ivies prepare you for... mediocrity.

Hello, my name is I went to Harvard.

The Jesse Helms — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:02:16 -0800

Pay to play. The children of big-donor Harvard alums are systematically given preference over legacy offspring of lesser means. Additionally David Karen, now a professor at Bryn Mawr, concluded that alumni children at Harvard lose most of their admissions advantage if they apply for financial aid.

organizing without organizations

gen — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:38:12 -0800

Clay Shirky, professor at ITP - NYU, often linked to at MeFi, presents at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society on the ideas in his new book on organizing without organizations. Shirky blogs about his book and the coverage that it's getting.

learning math online

nickyskye — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:51:03 -0800

Free math courses online, from very basic to brainiac. No registration required.

Harvard boosts open access for faculty publications

mediareport — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 08:49:45 -0800

Harvard's Faculty of Arts & Sciences voted unanimously last week to mandate "Open Access" to published articles - a first at a U.S. university, though the dean will apparently grant a waiver to anyone who wants to opt out. More to follow? Peter Suber's Open Access News is tracking reactions. Inside Higher Ed article Open Access Overview More at the bottom of this post "Harvard authors are not supposed to publish from now on in some extremely high profile journals like Nature and Science who prohibit fee access of papers for a period of time after publication. Whether these journals will publish Harvard papers under these conditions now is a question we don't know the answer to. It could get very, very interesting." [Peter Suber previously in the blue]

Somewhere, over the brainbow...

kisch mokusch — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 03:09:26 -0800

Brainbow. Using some very cool genetic tricks, Harvard scientists have found a way to make transgenic mice that express various mixtures of different coloured fluorescent proteins in their neurons. The result, individual brain cells with up to 90 distinct colours. Not surprisingly, this visually impressive work is in this month's issue of Nature.

John Stilgoe wants you to go outside and look at things a little differently.

jquinby — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 08:28:02 -0800

John Stilgoe is a professor at Harvard who teaches his students how to, among other things, mindfully observe the urban and suburban environments they inhabit. Moving slowly and deliberately throughout the sprawl, one can (if properly trained) read the entire history of an area in the minute details of the overhead power lines, road surfaces, rail lines, survey markers and even drainage lines. He urges his students (and everyone else for that matter) to go outside, walk deliberately, and observe the spaces in and around their landscape. He wrote a book awhile back to help get you started, but it might not hurt to pick up a field guide or two before setting out to reclaim a sense of history and place in your neighborhood. By the way: he wants everyone to know that passing a picket fence at 11mph will render it invisible. Stilgoe, previously. (Special thanks to occhiblu who answered my question about Stilgoe in this AskMefi)

Harvard Scientists Build a Device to Smoke Weed During Brain Scan

prostyle — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:09:43 -0800

It's not often one gets one's bong in the scientific literature, let alone one designed to allow you to smoke weed inside an MRI scanner...

Most studies on the neuroscience of marijuana have used pills or injections of THC, the main active ingredient, but this is quite different from smoking - both in the way it reaches the brain and because of the fact that burning the plant creates many other chemicals which also get inhaled. A team from Harvard Medical School are interested in how smoked marijuana affects the brain, but have come to the inevitable conclusion that it's actually quite hard smoking a joint when you're lying on your back being brain scanned. [via]

Gallery

Kwantsar — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 18:38:48 -0800

Riemann's Curve , Airfoils, Complex Roots, More.