Thad Lee

Are psychedelics an effective treatment for mood disorders? Jerrold Rosenbaum, director of Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics, discusses the potential of using psychedelics, such as MDMA and magic mushrooms, to treat treatment-resistant mood disorders like depression and anxiety. Topics include the effect of psychedelics on the brain, how psychedelic therapy is conducted, the legality of medicinal psychedelics, and current research findings.

WHY IS SMELL SUCH A MYSTERY TO SCIENTISTS? Neurobiologists Venkatesh Murthy and Sandeep Robert Datta discuss what scientists know about our sense of smell, and what big mysteries remain. Topics include smell loss from COVID-19, experimental approaches to understanding olfaction, and the role of artificial intelligence in olfactory research.

Halloween weekend was an appropriate time for the Harvard football team to continue its two-season Danse Macabre of close and excruciating defeat. This time, at least, the result did not involve overtime or controversy. Thanks to a 25-yard field goal by Connor Davis with 49 seconds to play, Dartmouth squeaked by the Crimson 20-17 on a soggy day at the Stadium. The loss, Harvard’s second straight, drops the Crimson to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the Ivy League.