Researchers get Superman’s X-ray vision. Duke Research Blog, Feb. 1, 2018. X-ray vision just got cooler. A technique developed in recent years boosts researchers’ ability to see through the body and capture high-resolution images of animals inside and out.
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Mantis shrimp size each other up before ceding a fight
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Mantis shrimp size each other up before ceding a fight. Duke Today, Jan. 17, 2018. To a mantis shrimp, walking away from a fight doesn’t mean being a wimp. It means recognizing who they’re up against and knowing when to bail rather than drag out a doomed battle, researchers say. Picked up by Newsweek.
Women survive crises better than men
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Women survive crises better than men. Duke Today, Jan. 9, 2018. Women tend to live longer than men almost everywhere worldwide. Now, three centuries of data show that women don’t just outlive men in normal times: They’re more likely to survive even in the worst of circumstances, such as famines and epidemics. Picked up by Xinhua, The Guardian, United Press International, Futurity, U.S. News & World Report, New York Post and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Some lemurs are loners, others crave connection
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Some lemurs are loners, others crave connection. Duke Research Blog, January 8, 2018. If lemurs were on Facebook, Fern would have oodles of friends, liking and commenting on their posts. Captain Lee, on the other hand, would rarely send a friend request. Picked up by Futurity.
Bonobos prefer jerks
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Bonobos prefer jerks. Jan. 4, 2018. Never trust anyone who is rude to a waiter, advice columnists say. But while humans generally prefer individuals who are nice to others, a Duke University study finds bonobos are more attracted to jerks. The fact that our closest primate relatives prefer bullies suggests that an aversion to creeps is one of the things that makes humans different from other species, and may underlie our unusually cooperative nature. Picked up by Newsweek, Los Angeles Times, UPI, Science News, Quartz, Radio France, Le Figaro, France Inter, Smithsonian, Cosmos, Daily Mail, Discover Magazine, Scientific American and National Public Radio.
How 3-D printing is changing surgical care at Duke
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How 3-D printing is changing surgical care at Duke. Duke Today, Dec. 21, 2017. Custom-made models help doctors plan and practice surgeries before entering the operating room.
Can we teach computers to make like Mendelssohn?
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Can we teach computers to make like Mendelssohn? Duke Today, Dec. 14, 2017. Duke University researchers are teaching computers to write classical piano music in the mode of great composers like Mendelssohn and Beethoven. The resulting tunes are a pastiche of 19th century style.
Cells bulge to squeeze through barriers
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Cells bulge to squeeze through barriers. Nov. 27, 2017. Duke scientists have discovered a new tool in the cell’s invasion machinery that may help explain cancer’s ability to spread. Time-lapse imaging of the worm C. elegans reveals a fleeting protrusion that wedges into a tiny gap in the protective layer that surrounds the cell, and swells until the breach is wide enough for the cell to squeeze through. The findings could point to new ways to prevent metastasis, the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Picked up by Futurity and STAT.
Chimp females who leave home postpone parenthood
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Chimp females who leave home postpone parenthood. Nov. 20, 2017. Female chimps that lack supportive friends and family wait longer to start having babies, Duke University researchers find. An analysis of more than 50 years’ worth of daily records for female chimpanzees in Gombe National Park in Tanzania indicates that would-be moms who leave home or are orphaned take roughly three years longer to start a family. Picked up by the Daily Mail.
Bonobos help strangers without being asked
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Bonobos help strangers without being asked. Duke Today, Nov. 7, 2017. The impulse to be kind to strangers was long thought to be unique to humans, but research on bonobos suggests our species is not as exceptional in this regard as we like to think. Famously friendly apes from Africa’s Congo Basin, bonobos will go out of their way to help a stranger get food even when there is no immediate payback, researchers show. What’s more, they help spontaneously without having to be asked first. Picked up by Newsweek, Psychology Today, Daily Mail, National Geographic, Reddit, ABC.es and Le Monde.
Mixing it up
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Mixing it up. Duke Today, Nov. 7, 2017. To most people, turbulence is a bumpy plane ride. But to one researcher at Duke University, turbulence is a mathematical riddle.
Vital signs
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Vital signs. Duke Today, Nov. 7, 2017. Where some see noisy spikes and dips on an electrocardiogram, one researcher sees hidden mathematical problems.
Humans don’t use as much brainpower as we like to think
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Humans don’t use as much brainpower as we like to think. Duke Today, Oct. 31, 2017. For years, scientists assumed that humans devote a larger share of calories to their brains than other animals. Although the human brain makes up only 2 percent of body weight, it consumes more than 25 percent of the body’s energy budget. But a comparison of the relative brain costs of 22 species found that other animals have hungry brains too. Picked up by the Daily Mail, IFLScience, Futurity and United Press International.
Starvation mode
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Starvation mode. 1,100 words on Duke Research, Oct. 27, 2017. This roundworm can survive weeks without eating thanks to a coping mechanism similar to humans.
Boundary zone
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Boundary zone. 1,100 words on Duke Research, Oct. 16, 2017. This pink line of fly cells could help researchers understand Barrett’s esophagus, which can turn into cancer.
iPhone app could guide MS research, treatment
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iPhone app could guide MS research, treatment. Duke Today, Oct. 3, 2017. For some diseases, a simple blood test is all that’s needed to gauge severity or confirm a diagnosis. Not so for multiple sclerosis. No single lab test can tell doctors what type of MS a patient has, nor whether it’s responding to treatment. By better tracking patients with help from a new iPhone app, researchers hope to take some of the guesswork out of treating MS and pave the way to more personalized care. Picked up by the News & Observer and the Herald-Sun.
Gregg Gunnell, fossil hunter, dies at 63
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Gregg Gunnell, fossil hunter, dies at 63. Duke Today, September 25, 2017. Gregg Gunnell, 63, a Duke University paleontologist who oversaw a collection of more than 30,000 fossils from around the world, died of lymphoma Wednesday, September 20 at Duke University Hospital in Durham. Gunnell spent more than 40 years studying fossils hidden in layers of rock for clues to what kinds of animals lived there, what they looked like and how they changed over time.
Even preschoolers play fair, but chimps? Not so much.
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Even preschoolers play fair, but chimps? Not so much. Duke Today, Sept. 14, 2017. Chimps don’t care if they’re caught cheating. But preschoolers do, and that’s one of the keys to what makes us human, says Michael Tomasello, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University.
Why your ancestors would have aced the long jump
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Why your ancestors would have aced the long jump. Duke Today, Sept. 11, 2017. A 52-million-year-old ankle fossil suggests our prehuman ancestors were high-flying acrobats. For years, scientists thought the ancestors of today’s humans, monkeys, lemurs and apes were relatively slow and deliberate animals, using their grasping hands and feet to creep along small twigs and branches. But a new study suggests the first primates were masters at leaping through the trees. Picked up by New Scientist, the Daily Mail, Futurity and NSF 360.
Larger-than-life pollen
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Larger-than-life pollen. 1,100 Words on Duke Research, Aug. 31, 2017. Lodged on the head of a daisy, these spiky pollen grains were photographed at 2,200 times magnification using a portable scanning electron microscope that can be brought into classrooms.
Captive lemurs get a genetic health checkup
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Captive lemurs get a genetic health checkup. Duke research blog, Aug. 21, 2017. Careful matchmaking can restore genetic diversity for endangered lemurs in captivity, researchers report.
Pinpointing where Durham’s nicotine addicts get their fix
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Pinpointing where Durham’s nicotine addicts get their fix. Duke Research blog, Aug. 10, 2017. It’s been five years since Durham expanded its smoking ban beyond bars and restaurants to include public parks, bus stops, even sidewalks. While smoking in the state overall may be down, 19 percent of North Carolinians still light up, particularly the poor and those without a high school or college diploma. Now, new maps show where Durham’s nicotine addicts get their fix.
Sizing up Hollywood’s gender gap
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Sizing up Hollywood’s gender gap. Duke Research blog, Aug. 4, 2017. If Hollywood has seen a number of recent hits with strong female leads, from “Wonder Woman” and “Atomic Blonde” to “Hidden Figures,” it doesn’t signal a change in how women are depicted on screen — at least not yet.
Mapping electricity access for a sixth of the world’s people
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Mapping electricity access for a sixth of the world’s people. Duke Research blog, Aug. 1, 2017. To get power to people who lack electricity, first officials need to locate them. But for much of the developing world, reliable, up-to-date data on electricity access is hard to come by. Now, Duke students are applying machine learning to satellite images to make the job easier.
Opening the lid on criminal sentencing software
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Opening the lid on criminal sentencing software. July 19, 2017. Many states make decisions about sentencing, bail, probation and parole based on secret computer algorithms, but how they work is a mystery. Duke’s Cynthia Rudin says it doesn’t have to be that way. Picked up by Boing Boing.