For the most part, hospitals are disappointingly free of multicolored fluorescent lighting. If John Frangioni from Beth Israel Deaconess has his way, that may not be the case for much longer. Frangioni has developed a system in which near-infrared light makes microscopic particles glow inside a patient, with the results viewed on a monitor inside the operating room. Prior to surgery, a particular color of glowing molecule can be targeted to each different type of......

What's going on here? Not only are students afraid to ride the bus to school, but they also might be afraid to eat lunch. On February 27, four adults--the father of a student, two uncles, and a woman--went into the Urban Science Academy of West Roxbury High and beat on a kid who allegedly attacked the father's son. From the Herald: The adults surrounded the victim, who was repeatedly punched by the student. “The adult......

In his appearance last week on Radio Boston, Dan Grabauskas didn't discuss the issue of violence on the T. No one else asked him about it, either. But he has a lot to do now that a 15-year-old named Tiara Amarante documented the perils of riding the 23 bus. People riding the 23 are living in fear of thugs who pack heat, fight and intimidate riders on a daily basis. Amarante is a freshman at......

Students at the John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science in Roxbury blocked doors and hallways because the headmaster chided them in a lecture for being tardy. The school responded with a lockdown. The students were clearly organized, as 200 of them were involved. Megan Woolhouse at the Globe notes that the student body isn't exactly a crew of troublemakers: "The protest was unusual at the school, which typically has a well-behaved student body......

blue socks looked at the world through the eyes of a child on a recent visit to the Museum of Science. Great framing and a fun capture.......

Music Atlas Sound, featuring Bradford Cox going solo during Deerhunter's hiatus, hits the Middle East tonight, riding a wave of praise for his new project. Cox's hometown weekly, Atlanta's Creative Loafing, raves, "Let the Blind contains Cox's most haunting and sad songs to date. It throbs with delirious depression, and is bursting with powerful, barely contained emotions." For those of you who can handle strong emotions in the bleak winter, Cox is your fella.......

--With this winter's especially foul weather, we have entered a new level of pothole hell. [Boston Globe] --Although some local figures might be gearing up to run against Mayor Menino, the mayor might be earning votes by working to help Hendry Street residents floored by the mortgage foreclosure crisis. [Boston Herald] --Despite all that planning, construction on the new Harvard Allston Science Complex has already pissed off Allston residents. Neighbors had been told construction......

Veggiest Quick Hits -- Happy Valentine's Day! For us being vegan is all about the love. We love our bodies and want to keep them healthy and strong and free of animal products. We love the environment and want to protect it from the extremely destructive practices of factory farming. We love animals and don't want to see them mistreated. You'll most certainly be doing your heart a favor. Heart disease is still one......

Harvard LoveFest: Science is Sexy Cambridge Queen's Head Pub, Harvard Square Noon As the old saying goes, "Valentine's Day at Harvard is like Father's Day at an orphanage." In other words, the geeks just don't get the girls (or guys, for that matter). Fortunately for the beaker-bearing types, a group of determined Harvard students has decided to change that. Today's Valentine's LoveFest, organized by a group of science-minded Harvard students called Zing, will feature stimulating......

Books --Self-described philosopher-comedians Tom Cathcart and Daniel Klein discuss Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington. Imagine Jon Stewart after he stops shouting "Whaaaa??" takes some time off for a philosophy PhD, and returns to TV. Brookline Booksmith, 7:00 pm, free. --Find out why Drew Gilpin Faust is the president of Harvard, and you're not. Faust will discuss her book This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War at the Harvard Coop......

Great Romances III Friday, Feb 8 -- Thursday, Feb 14, various times Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle Street, Cambridge More details Somebody at the Brattle Theatre must have a heart made of sap. The cinema is hosting not one, not two, but six days of romantic films leading up to Valentine's Day. You cannot deal with that much loving. We cannot. So, Bostonist has assembled a quick guide to help you choose the ideal screening for......

Super Bowl --Looking for a good Super Bowl party? Bring your favorite beer mug to the Milky Way, where the big game will screen, and then you can celebrate with some candlepin bowling. Sponsored by the Mug Project, which wants people to use a mug instead of guzzling their way through disposable cups, and Neighbors for Neighbors. 6:00 pm. --MenuPages also provides listings of restaurants with promising Super Bowl parties, including 75 Chestnut, Big......

A spring-loaded dress, a sun-lit fan, and a purse with a built-in alarm system were just a few of the futuristic fashions on display at the Seamless: Computational Couture fashion show at the Museum of Science on Wednesday. Over 1000 design and technology lovers packed three floors of the MoS's Blue Wing to admire clothes and accessories ranging from sublime (an air-filled dress that changes shape based on barometric pressure) to sci-fi (a burial suit......

Art The exhibit Rhythms of Modern Life: British Prints 1914–1939 shows the sharp, mechanical-feeling prints that set the artistic tone for the future. Museum of Fine Arts. Read Bostonist's preview of the show. Runs through June 1. Fashion Put away your spindles. Fashionistas can flash forward to the 21st century at Seamless, which showcases "experimental works in computational apparel design." The dry-witted Steven Rosengard of Project Runway 4 will be hosting, and Red Sox......

Music After revealing his approach in last night's speech, DJ Spooky dispenses with the theory and dives into the practice. He'll be spinning for the ICA's Experiment, and the ICA lobby will turn into a dance floor. Ghostdad, Kingdon, DJ Lone Wolf, DJ Die Young, and Baltimoroder will be on hand. Learn more about this weekend's DJ Spooky marathon. ICA Boston, 8:00 pm until midnight, $20. DJ Spooky not enough for you? Thunderdome X featuring......

Music The ICA has invited DJ Spooky (aka Paul D. Miller) to town for an entire weekend. Don't forget--Bostonist has the full scoop and will provide a review. The first event is the talk "Rhythm Science," a multimedia event in which he talks about the ever-changing media landscape and its impact on artists. ICA Boston, 6:30 pm., $12. Books Neil Shubin will read from Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the......

DJ Spooky: That Subliminal Kid Institute of Contemporary Art January 24, 25, and 26 Rhythm Science, Experiment, Subliminal Strings Tickets $8-20 depending on performance Is That Subliminal Kid the best nickname a person could have or what? If you want it, though, too bad--it's taken by one Paul D. Miller, also known as DJ Spooky. That Subliminal Kid is sorta like the subtitle to his DJ name. When you're important enough to have a nominal......

Art Although the weather is bone-chilling, the MFA wants to lure you out of the house with free admission until 4:45 this afternoon. Kendrick Oliver and the New Life Jazz Orchestra will also perform in Remis Auditorium between 11:00 am and 3:30 pm. More info from the MFA. Movies One of Woody Allen's best will screen at the Coolidge Corner Theatre as part of the "Science on Screen" series. In Sleeper, Woody Allen is transported......

--Dr. Judah Folkman, who found a new way of fighting cancer by cutting off blood supply to tumors, died yesterday. [Boston Globe] --After one meeting ended unsuccessfully, the Cambridge City Council decided that Denise Simmons would be mayor. [Cambridge Chronicle] --The judge in a Florida case involving former FBI agent/Friend-of-Whitey-Bulger John J. Connolly has recused herself. [Boston Herald] --Coyote ugly: An injured coyote was spotted and rounded up last night in the North End.......

You'd think with all of Harvard's brainpower they'd be finding the cure for cancer. But instead they looked into a crystal ball and found … nothing. The Crimson reports that psychology graduate student Samuel T. Moulton ’01 and Psychology Professor Stephen M. Kosslyn believe that they have debunked ESP (Extrasensory Perception) by testing subjects and looking at MRI scans of their brains. Yet they found no existence of ESP: According to Moulton, if ESP existed,......

Movies Two-Lane Blacktop is one of the best underground movies you've probably never seen. Even though the 1971 movie about drag racers looks like a star vehicle for "Sweet Baby James" Taylor, the images and general restless atmosphere make it seem more like Godard than anything else. Throw in a performance by another one of Hollywoods unsung heroes, Warren Oates, and a haunting final scene, and you have a classic. Showtimes from the Brattle Theatre.......

--Part of the Storrow Drive tunnel is closed for repairs. Here's the scoop from the AP: "Through Sunday, officials say one eastbound lane of the tunnel will be closed to traffic from 9:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Beginning January 2, the work will be shifted to the overnight hours from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m." [Boston Herald] --The Massachusetts State Lottery is considering selling scratch tickets at Dunkin' Donuts. Is nothing sacred? [Boston Globe]......

Ethan Gilsdorf and Ted Weesner, Jr. Friday, December 14, 7:00 pm Willoughby and Baltic Art Space 195 G Elm Street, Somerville (T: Davis Square) Free Ethan Gilsdorf's official site Listings for readings may be slim while everyone is busy for the holidays, but it's quality that matters. Two recipients of fellowships from the Somerville Arts Council will be sharing their latest projects for free tomorrow night. Journalist/poet Ethan Gilsdorf and novelist Ted Weesner, Jr., are......

Harvard President Drew Faust has quickly distinguished herself from other Harvard presidents with some recent bold moves. First, she announced that Harvard would improve its financial aid offers, and now she is announcing that she will review the university's expansion to Allston, which had been perceived as a done deal during the reign of past president Larry Summers. From the Globe: "A $1 billion science complex, which will house a stem cell institute, will stay......

Evolution is on trial again. A former postdoctoral fellow at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has sued the Cape Cod research center, claiming his 2004 dismissal resulted from his religious beliefs. Nathaniel Abraham was dismissed from Mark Hahn's research lab after refusing to work on the "evolutionary aspects" of his assigned project, according to the Globe. Hahn is a senior research scientist known for studying the effects of toxins on aquatic animals, using a hybrid......

--John Edwards, the Harvard sophomore whose body was found yesterday at Harvard Medical School, committed suicide. People who knew him, such as a professor and his roommate are mystified. Eva Wolchover lists Edwards' many accomplishments. He was a top science student (and that's saying something around here), a stem cell researcher, and a guitar player. A Facebook group named "In Memory of John Edwards" has already been established. --Michele McPhee reports that a State Trooper......

COLLISIONtwelve (12) Art Opening Tonight Friday, November 30th MIT Stata Center Balcony Gallery 32 Vassar Street, 3rd Floor Cambridge, MA 6p - 9p / FREE / All Ages COLLISIONcollective is a group of artists from MIT and the surrounding Boston area that explore new technologies through the filters of art. Founded in 2002, their intentions have been to showcase art that incorporates technology, but has since expanded into some of the most innovative and......

Romney didn't endear himself to anyone when he answered a question about whether or not he would appoint a Muslim to his fantasy presidential cabinet. Here's Mansoor Ijaz, who asked that question of Romney and wrote about the response for the Christian Science Monitor: I asked Mr. Romney whether he would consider including qualified Americans of the Islamic faith in his cabinet as advisers on national security matters, given his position that "jihadism" is the......

The game was tucked in the dark corner of the Cambridge Common last night, away from the lamp-lined paths and trees covered with Christmas lights. From afar, it looked like some kind of goofy science project: a pair of lights darting back and forth in the night. But when you approached the field and saw the players, you realized that it was something even more bizarre. Those floating lights were frisbees. The Illuminated Frisbee Nighttime......

Thursday, November 8 Elaine Scarry, Jerald Walker, and Robert Atwan, The Best American Essays, 7:00 pm, Brookline Booksmith Three contributors to this year's The Best American Essays will discuss what went into the book this year--and maybe we'll hear a little about what got left out. Monday, November 12 Jennifer Ackerman, Sex, Sleep, Eat, Drink, Dream, 7:00 pm, Porter Square Books Science writer Ackerman takes a fantastic voyage through the body to see how it......