Watch lemurs fatten up for winter’s slumber. Duke Today, Nov. 22, 2022. You know that food coma feeling? Some lemurs do too. And that’s a good thing, scientists say. Picked up by ABC11.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Feeling lonely? What we want from our relationships can change with age
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Feeling lonely? What we want from our relationships can change with age. Duke Research blog, Nov. 14, 2022. Not feeling the holiday cheer this year? The gap between expectations and reality can leave people feeling lonely. Experts weigh in on why we feel lonely, particularly in later life, and what we can do about it. Picked up by Earth.com and InsideHook.
How to catch a virus
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Watch a virus in the moments right before it attacks. Duke Today, Nov. 10, 2022. Researchers have captured the first real-time footage of viruses on the move, right before they hijack a cell. Picked up by Nature, Quirks and Quarks and IFLScience.
How to encourage preschoolers to be more fair, according to science
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How to encourage preschoolers to be more fair, according to science. Duke Research blog, October 17, 2022. Exposing young kids to different opinions or asking them to explain their thinking can have surprising benefits. Picked up by Futurity.
Computing the quantum world
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Computing the quantum world. Trinity Communications, Sept. 23, 2022. Could physics problems that seem intractable today be solvable tomorrow, with the help of quantum computers? Natalie Klco aims to find out.
Tackling renewable energy challenges, at the nano scale
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Tackling renewable energy challenges, at the nano scale. Duke Today, Sept. 19, 2022. Ivan Moreno-Hernandez is studying electrochemistry in action to develop new materials for clean energy.
Plants reprogram their cells to fight invaders. Here’s how.
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Plants reprogram their cells to fight invaders. Here’s how. Duke Today, Aug. 25, 2022. Findings could help scientists bolster crops’ immune systems without sacrificing yield. Picked up by Futurity.
Lemur gut isn’t one ecosystem, it’s many
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Lemur gut isn’t one ecosystem, it’s many. Duke Research Blog, Aug. 22, 2022. Different spots along this long, twisting pathway have their own communities of bacteria doing different kinds of jobs. The complex ecosystem lurking in a lemur’s small intestine, for example, isn’t the same as the microbial menagerie setting up camp in their colon.
Stiff, achy knees? Lab-made cartilage gel outperforms the real thing
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Stiff, achy knees? Lab-made cartilage gel outperforms the real thing. Duke Today, Aug. 11, 2022. Hydrogel-based implant could replace worn-out cartilage and alleviate knee pain without replacing the entire joint. Clinical trials expected to launch in April 2023. Picked up by Futurity and WRAL TechWire.
These baboons borrowed a third of their genes from their cousins
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These baboons borrowed a third of their genes from their cousins. Duke Today, August 4, 2022. Fifty years of monitoring suggested that baboon hybrids manage just fine, but new DNA evidence reveals that some of their borrowed genes came at a cost. Picked up by Earth.com and Discover Magazine.
Protecting plant immunity in a warming world
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Climate change is making plants more vulnerable to disease. New research could help them fight back. Duke Today, June 29, 2022. To keep food on the table in a warming world, researchers are bolstering plant immunity against the heat. Picked up by NPR’s Science Friday, Wired, The Independent, Grist, MIT Technology Review, CBS 17 and Cosmos Magazine.
Makeup of the Matrix
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Makeup of the Matrix. Duke Research 1100 Words, May 20, 2022. A study identifies the most complete “parts list” yet for the microscopic scaffolds that envelop & support tissues in the body – which could help diagnose/treat diseases ranging from diabetes to cancer.
Quantum Magnets
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Quantum magnets. ‘1100 Words’ in Duke Research. April 28, 2022. In her search for new quantum materials, physicist Sara Haravifard spends a lot of time tinkering with crystals. Now her team has uncovered new types of quantum magnets, which could be used in data storage & spintronics.
Data at the speed of light
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Web surfing that feels instantaneous, even though it’s not. Duke Today, April 13, 2022. A speed-of-light internet could bring near real-time connectivity to 120 cities nationwide, without newfangled tech. Here’s how. Picked up by ACM TechNews and SYFY WIRE.
Why 400 scientists are abuzz about the W boson
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Why 400 scientists are abuzz about the W boson. Duke Today, April 7, 2022. Heftier-than-predicted subatomic particle exposes crack in decades-old theory; hints at more waiting to be discovered about the cosmos. Picked up by Nature, Washington Post, The Guardian, BBC, CBS, Science News, IFLScience, New Scientist, Gizmodo, Quanta Magazine, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Inverse, VICE, Slate, Scientific American, Barron’s, ABC News, Symmetry Magazine and Ars Technica.
Fueling cell invasion
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Fueling cell invasion. Duke Today, March 22, 2022. From a tiny worm, new clues to how metastatic cancer cells power their deadly spread.
Family boundaries, baboon-style
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Family boundaries, baboon-style. Duke Today, March 7, 2022. Dispersal, discernment help baboons avoid inbreeding, but here’s where their social filter fails. Picked up by The Scientist and Futurity.
Tracking the pulse of our nation’s rivers
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Tracking the pulse of our nation’s rivers, like a Fitbit for streams. Duke Today, Feb. 21, 2022. Scientists are monitoring hundreds of streams across the U.S., to better predict how freshwater vital signs might shift with land development and climate change.
Finding the tipping point for coastal wetlands
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Finding the tipping point for coastal wetlands. Duke Research blog, Jan. 25, 2022. Salt is poisoning the soils past a point of no return for some marsh plants. One North Carolina team is trying to pinpoint the early warning signs.
Modest morning glories
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Modest morning glories. 1100 Words for Duke Research, Dec. 16, 2021. When we think of flowers, most of us picture their colorful petals, or the sweet nectar they offer insects and other pollinators. But some flowers don’t need to look good to get by.
Taking new aim at COVID-19
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Taking new aim at COVID-19. Duke Today, Nov. 26, 2021. The coronavirus’s tangled strands of RNA could offer new ways to treat people who get infected. Picked up by INDY Week and The New York Times.
When the gut’s internal ecosystem goes awry, could an ancient if gross-sounding treatment make it right?
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When the gut’s internal ecosystem goes awry, could an ancient if gross-sounding treatment make it right? Duke Research Blog, Nov. 17, 2021. Lemur researchers make a case for fecal transplants to reduce the side effects of antibiotics.
Art installation celebrates the beauty and whimsy of math
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Art installation celebrates the beauty and whimsy of math. Duke Today, Nov. 11, 2021. On the third floor of Gross Hall lies a whimsical island where the landscape and creatures are not what they seem. The 20-foot-long, 10-foot-wide piece, a mixed-media art installation dubbed “Mathemalchemy,” is the result of a two-year collaboration devoted to the joy and creativity of math.
Tiny microscopic hunters could be a crystal ball for climate change
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Tiny microscopic hunters could be a crystal ball for climate change. Duke Today, Oct. 25, 2021. Simple measurements of these obscure organisms can help predict future CO2 emissions for warming ecosystems, study finds. Picked up by CBS 17.
If endangered primates disappear, so will their parasites. That’s actually a problem.
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If endangered primates disappear, so will their parasites. That’s actually a problem. Duke Today, Sept. 23, 2021. The extinction crisis looming for monkeys, apes and their kin could have even greater ripple effects on the tiny underappreciated species that set up camp in their bodies. Picked up by Science Friday, Syfy Wire and Earth.com.