The writer is a science commentator
Science students at Harvard University already belong to an elite but, this term, there is a super-elite among them. Fifteen have been selected to ruminate on major unsolved enigmas, such as how life sprang from nonliving matter or whether it is truly possible to reverse ageing.
The Genuinely Hard Problems scheme, designed to expose bright young minds each week to the world’s biggest unanswered questions, might usefully chart a course for other institutions to follow. According to Logan McCarty, a Harvard science lecturer and dean of education who is organising the classes with the scheme’s creator, neurobiology professor Jeff Lichtman, the internet and AI have lessened the need for ambitious thinkers to acquire specialised technical skills and internalise vast quantities of information.