News
How long is an Ebola survivor contagious? One case is causing scientists to rethink the answer.
Surviving Ebola isn’t like getting over the flu. In recent years, researchers have found that the Ebola virus can linger in some survivors, though it was unclear how likely these individuals were to transmit the deadly disease.
August 13, 2018
Scientists decode what makes a New York Times bestseller
Northeastern network scientist Albert-László Barabási and his colleagues have developed a model that harnesses the power of early sales data to predict how many total copies a book will sell. Their analysis uncovers a sales pattern that is common to all books and offers insight on what it takes to make the Times’ bestseller list.
April 06, 2018
How big data and the science of science can revolutionize discovery
Northeastern network scientists Albert-László Barabási and Alessandro Vespignani want to “push the pedal” on science and its benefit to society. In a paper published Thursday in the journal Science, they described lessons learned from a literature review of the science of science.
March 05, 2018
Study shows cities with bad traffic may be more resilient to disruptive events
New research from Northeastern’s Network Science Institute shows that cities notorious for bad traffic may actually be more efficient at handling adverse events, like accidents and storms. Cities with less traffic, on the other hand, may buckle under the pressure of these disruptive events.
December 22, 2017
Northeastern builds bridges between string theory and data science
The first ever Workshop on Data Science and String Theory was held on November 30 by Northeastern physicists James Halverson, Brent Nelson, and Cody Long, bringing together string theorists and data scientists to bring research and discovery to the next level.
December 21, 2017
Researchers use Twitter to track the flu in real time
An international team led by Northeastern’s Alessandro Vespignani has developed a unique computational model that uses Twitter to project the spread of the seasonal flu in real time. With it, public health agencies can plan ahead, allocating medical resources and launching preventative care campaigns.
May 05, 2017
PhD Profile: Carolina Mattsson
Carolina Mattsson, a Network Science PhD candidate, sits down with the College of Science Graduate Program staff to talk about what it’s like to work and study at Northeastern University.
November 14, 2016
New study: Success can come at any age
New research led by Northeastern network scientist Albert-László Barabási shows that, contrary to conventional wisdom, creative breakthroughs in science can come at any age, in the 20s, 40s, even 70s.
November 04, 2016
Underreporting of Zika is rife; researchers project epidemic’s spread
New research from Northeastern professor Alessandro Vespignani finds that the number of reported Zika cases in the U.S. may be just the tip of the iceberg due to widespread underreporting. The study also models the predicted spread of Zika across the Americas through 2017.
August 02, 2016
In the News: Does The Olympics In Rio Put The World In Danger Of Zika?
Sternberg Distinguished University Professor Alessandro Vespignani tells NPR that he doesn't believe Zika poses a big enough risk to move the Olympic games out of Rio this summer.
June 09, 2016
Network Science PhD named National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate fellow
Matt Simonson, 2016 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellow, hopes to “use math to save the world.”
June 01, 2016
What social media data could tell us about the future
Can a flow of information across Twitter signal when a momentous event is about to occur? Northeastern’s Alessandro Vespignani and an interdisciplinary group of scientists developed a method to find out. Their findings represent an initial step in constructing models to detect trouble before it’s too late.
April 07, 2016
Researchers find the tipping point between resilience and collapse in complex systems
Using statistical physics, network scientist Albert-László Barabási and his colleagues have developed the first-ever tool to identify whether systems—be they technological, ecological, or biological—are in danger of failing.
February 17, 2016
World-renowned scholars launch Northeastern’s Network Science Institute
The Network Science Institute, home of the nation’s first doctoral program in network science, brings together an interdisciplinary team of renowned Northeastern scholars to plumb the structure and function of systems and develop intervention strategies to improve the health and security of people around the world.
November 06, 2015