Students, faculty, and fellows are fanning out across the Boston area to take measurements aimed at determining where and how much natural gas is leaking and where the worst carbon dioxide emissions occur.
For doctoral student Sarah Rugheimer, the study of atmosphere holds deep promise in the search for extrasolar life.
A Harvard-led study reveals that an aging natural-gas distribution system short-changes Boston-area customers and contributes to greenhouse-gas buildup. Depending on the season, natural gas leaking from the local distribution system accounts for 60 percent to 100 percent of the region’s emissions of methane.
Emissions of methane from fossil fuel extraction and refining activities in the United States are nearly five times higher than previous estimates, according to researchers at Harvard University and seven other institutions.
Using small explosions produced by a mix of methane and oxygen, researchers at Harvard have designed a soft robot that can leap as much as a foot in the air. That ability to jump could one day prove critical in allowing the robots to avoid obstacles during search and rescue operations.
Susan Tierney, former assistant secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Energy, discussed the environmental risks and potential benefits of shale gas extraction in a Future of Energy talk sponsored by the Harvard University Center for the Environment.
Study says microbes may consume far more gaseous waste from gulf oil spill than previously believed.
Harvard’s research spans the gamut from the sciences to the humanities, examining key questions about this critical challenge facing humanity.