Category Archives: Uncategorized

Is there a limit to human endurance? Science says yes

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Is there a limit to human endurance? Science says yes. Duke Today, June 5, 2019. From the Ironman to the Tour de France, some competitions test even the toughest endurance athletes. A study of energy expenditure during some of the world’s longest, most grueling sporting events suggests that no matter what the activity, everyone hits the same metabolic limit, likely due to constraints on the digestive tract’s ability to break down food. Picked up by The New York Times, NPR, The Guardian, The Scientist, New York Post, CNN, Jezebel, Daily Mail, Discover Magazine, Outside Magazine, Science Magazine, Cosmos, U.S. News & World Report, The Independent, Popular Science, ABC News, BBC News, Inverse, Men’s Health, Business Insider, Runner’s World, IFL Science, The Telegraph,Quartz, UPI, and New Scientist.

Birds perceive ‘warm’ colors differently from ‘cool’ ones

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Birds perceive ‘warm’ colors differently from ‘cool’ ones. Duke Today, May 29, 2019. Birds may not have a word for maroon. Or burnt sienna. But show a zebra finch a sunset-colored object, and she’ll quickly decide whether it looks more “red” or “orange.” A new study shows that birds mentally sort the range of hues on the blue-green side of the spectrum into two categories too, but the line between them is fuzzier, perhaps because “either/or” thinking is less useful in this part of the spectrum, researchers say.

Could better tests help reverse the rise of superbugs?

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Could better tests help reverse the rise of superbugs? Duke Today, May 16, 2019. Faster, more accurate tests for drug-resistant infections are hailed as a promising tool in the fight against antibiotic resistance, so much so that the U.S. and Britain are offering millions in prize money for their development. A modeling study led by Duke University game theorist David McAdams shows that better tests could, in theory, change the game and put drug-resistant bacteria at a reproductive disadvantage relative to more easily-treated strains — but with a caveat.

Shining light on dark energy

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Shining light on dark energy. 1,100 Words on Duke Research. May 1, 2019. At this observatory high on a Chilean mountaintop, scientists spent six years surveying the night sky to better understand dark energy, the mysterious force that makes the universe expand at an ever faster rate. Now for the first time, they’ve been able to combine four different measurement techniques in a single experiment to verify its existence and figure out what it’s like.

Giant meat-eater

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Giant meat-eater. 1,100 Words on Duke Research. April 18, 2019. Matt Borths was visiting a museum in Kenya when he opened a drawer and saw a gigantic jaw and dagger-like teeth glinting up at him, larger than a lion’s. Now the 22 million-year-old fossils, hidden for decades, have given scientists their first look at one of the largest meat-eating mammals ever to walk the Earth. 

Tiny light-up barcodes identify molecules by their twinkling

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Tiny light-up barcodes identify molecules by their twinkling.
1,100 Words on Duke Research, April 12, 2019. An imaging technique developed at Duke University could make it possible to peer inside cells and watch dozens of different molecules at once — by labeling them with short strands of light-up DNA that blink on and off with their own unique rhythm. Though they’re all the same color, the technique makes it possible to distinguish as many as 56 types by their twinkling, more cheaply than traditional methods and without fading over time. Picked up by Engadget.

Infiltrating an ovary

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Infiltrating an ovary. 1,100 Words on Duke Research. April 2, 2019. 
What might look like a green gumdrop or strands of red tinsel is actually a dense network of nerves forming within a developing mouse ovary. 

Fates intertwined

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Fates intertwined. 1,100 Words on Duke Research. January 9, 2019. To most people, life-forms like this orange lichen are little more than curious decorations on rocks and trees, often overlooked. But to one Duke biologist, they represent one of the world’s oldest quid pro quos: a symbiosis between two kingdoms whose evolutionary fates are tightly intertwined.

Fossils rewrite story of lemur origins

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Fossils rewrite story of lemur origins. Duke Today, August 21, 2018. Research reveals that a 20-million-year-old African fossil, long thought to be a bat, actually represents one of the earliest branches of the lemur family tree. The reassessment challenges a long-held view that lemurs descended from ancestors that colonized Madagascar in a single wave roughly 60 million years ago, and were the first mammals to get there. Instead, the researchers say two separate lemur lineages may have arrived independently, and much later than previously thought. Picked up by ZME Science, Cosmos Magazine, BBC News, Science News and Gizmodo.

Mapping mountaintop coal mining’s yearly spread in Appalachia

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Mapping mountaintop coal mining’s yearly spread in Appalachia. Duke Today, July 25, 2018. A new mapping tool shows, in more detail than ever before, the land laid bare by mountaintop coal mining in central Appalachia each year, going back more than three decades. The tool uses satellite imagery to identify and map the annual extent of mining activity across portions of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. The researchers say the updated maps will make it easier to assess and mitigate mining’s environmental and health impacts. Picked up by Smithsonian Magazine, Gizmodo, UPI, West Virginia Public Broadcasting and NPR affiliate WOUB.

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.

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.

Microbes give meerkat gangs their signature scents

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Microbes give meerkat gangs their signature scents. Duke Today, June 12, 2017. Body odor. To some it’s an embarrassing nuisance. But to meerkats, it’s a calling card. Meerkats produce a pungent “paste” that they use to mark their turf. With one whiff they can tell if a scent belongs to a relative, a rival or a potential mate. But the chemical signals in this stinky graffiti don’t come from the meerkats themselves; they’re made by odor-producing bacteria that thrive in the meerkats’ gooey secretions, researchers find. Picked up by Popular Science, the Daily Mail, Discover Magazine and Science News.

Data geeks go head to head

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Data geeks go head to head. Duke Research Blog, April 6, 2017. For North Carolina college students, “big data” is becoming a big deal. The proof: signups for DataFest, a 48-hour number-crunching competition held at Duke last weekend, set a record for the third time in a row this year.

What affordable art can tell us about taste

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What affordable art can tell us about taste. Duke Research blog, May 29, 2015. Of the billions of dollars of art bought and sold at auctions in New York, London, Paris and Hong Kong this spring, most of the buzz has centered on the highest-priced works. But these are a tiny fraction of what’s up for sale. An analysis of thousands of painting sales in 18th century Paris looks beyond the top sellers to find out why people were willing to pay more for some works of art than others. Picked up by Private Art Investor.

Water ‘thermostat’ could help engineer drought-resistant crops

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Water ‘thermostat’ could help engineer drought-resistant crops. Duke Today, August 27, 2014. Researchers have identified a gene that could help engineer drought-resistant crops. The gene, called OSCA1, encodes a protein in the cell membrane of plants that senses changes in water availability and adjusts the plant’s water conservation machinery accordingly. The findings, which appear in the journal Nature, could make it easier to feed the world’s growing population in the face of climate change. Picked up by MIT Technology Review.

Scientist identifies world’s biggest-ever flying bird

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Scientist identifies world’s biggest-ever flying bird. National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, July 7, 2014. Scientists have identified the fossilized remains of an extinct giant bird that could be the biggest flying bird ever found. With an estimated 20-24-foot wingspan, the creature surpassed the previous record holder — an extinct bird named Argentavis magnificens — and was twice as big as the Royal Albatross, the largest flying bird today. Computer simulations show that the creature’s long slender wings helped it stay aloft despite its enormous size. Picked up by Fox News, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Science Magazine, Discovery News, CBC, U.S. News & World Report, the Independent, the Guardian, NBC news, Science News, Discover Magazine, the Huffington Post, Slate Magazine, the Daily Mail, Scientific American, the Boston Herald, National Geographic, New Scientist, the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek.

Fruit-loving lemurs score higher on spatial memory tests

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Fruit-loving lemurs score higher on spatial memory tests. Duke Today, February 21, 2014. Food-finding tests in five lemur species show that fruit-eaters may have better spatial memory than lemurs with a more varied diet. The results support the idea that relying on foods that are seasonally available and far-flung gives a competitive edge to individuals with certain cognitive abilities — such as remembering where the goodies are.