With pressure greater than the force within Earth’s core, two diamonds pressed upon liquid hydrogen and something happened for the first time ever on our planet: the lightest element in the periodic table turned into a small bit of metal. After years of research and experiments, this alchemical creation occurred under the direction of two Harvard physicists—whose paper was published in the journal Science. The …
Over the last year, Harvard PhD candidate Erica Walker has been cycling around Boston with a decibel meter. She’s determined to map out the city’s noise to see how it affects the public’s health. “Noise is insidious,” she tells The Atlantic. “It affects you acutely, but also longterm. This is something that people don’t really talk about, but something people really suffer from.” She eventually …
A new study conducted at the Harvard Business School has found that, when praised for past accomplishments, people tend to perform better at problem-solving tasks. The psychological trick is better known as “best-self activation,” and motivates people to reach the high standards they were once known, but only if they’ve recently been complimented on them. The findings are especially applicable when thinking of employee evaluations. …
