COS News

Caenorhabditis elegans, a transparent, microscopic worm, has evolved a way to take advantage of protection provided by nearby bacteria. This response could provide clues as to how humans coordinate our own cellular defense systems.

Now in its seventh year, the MIT-Wits Program is one of MIT’s most active in Africa. Whether through MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI)-organized student opportunities and faculty seed funds, visiting professors, or its array of edX courses, the relationship is as strong as ever. Known fondly known as Wits (and pronounced “Vits”), the […]

Continuous talk about Covid-19 and how best to stop it proves that we're learning and adapting to it.

The underwater research station will allow scientists and engineers to live, work, and conduct long-term experiments under the sea. Rendering by Yves Béhar, courtesy of Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center.

Under a new federal mandate, the COVID-19 data that U.S. hospitals had been sending directly to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention are now being sent to a different central database, using a system run by a private technology firm. The change raised concerns among public health experts, who warned the new directive might be a […]

There are plenty of misconceptions about COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. And that’s especially true during a time when false information about the disease, the virus, and possible treatments is so hard to counteract. Different misconceptions about the coronavirus—about how it gets transmitted, and how it leads to COVID-19 complications, for example—can result from a limited […]

As the current COVID-19 crisis has made abundantly clear, public health agencies need reliable, up-to-date information to effectively address evolving health problems at local, state, and federal levels. Many agencies in the U.S. are looking to disease surveillance systems that incorporate hospital records and internet-sourced data to predict where and when the worst outbreaks will […]

We find ourselves asking scientists to do more than simply study the virus,” said Mark Patterson, associate dean for research and graduate affairs in Northeastern’s College of Science, in a conversation streamed on Facebook Live. “In state houses, in cable news interviews, and on social media, they’re translating their data into insights, recommendations, and even advocacy.” Patterson spoke […]

Fifteen undergraduate students from the University of Connecticut McNair Scholars program engaged with Northeastern University over Zoom to learn more about Northeastern’s Master’s and PhD programs.

Zooming in where only a microscope can see, Northeastern researchers are trying to determine how the lifestyle changes caused by COVID-19 might be helping harmful bacteria grow in our drinking water.

Commemorating this year's Juneteenth with a list of reading and visual materials.

On this Juneteenth, a reflection on the history of unethical science.