Birds have time-honored traditions, too. Duke Today, June 20, 2018. By faithfully copying the most popular songs, swamp sparrows create time-honored song traditions that can be just as long-lasting as human traditions, finds a new study. The results show that creating traditions that pass the test of time doesn’t necessarily require exceptional smarts. Picked up by Gizmodo, Mental Floss, Newsweek, the Daily Mail, Science Magazine, National Geographic, The London Economic, News & Observer and New Scientist.
Details that look sharp to people may be blurry to their pets
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Details that look sharp to people may be blurry to their pets. Duke Today, May 30, 2018. Blind as a bat or eagle-eyed? Scientists compared hundreds of species by the sharpness of their sight. They found a 10,000-fold difference between the most sharp-sighted and the most blurry-eyed species, with humans ranking near the top. The researchers also created a series of images showing how different scenes might appear to animals with different acuities. The images reveal patterns that, while easy for some species to see, may be imperceptible to others. Picked up by Wired, EarthSky, Futurity, ZME Science, Smithsonian, Discover Magazine, Inverse and the Daily Mail.
Doctor dolls, coming soon in 3-D
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Doctor dolls, coming soon in 3-D. Duke Today, May 25, 2018. These centuries-old ivory sculptures have sat in storage or behind display glass at Duke since the 1950s, too fragile to handle. Soon, X-ray imaging technology will make them available to view, download, even make 3-D printed replicas.
How turning down the heat makes a baby turtle male
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How turning down the heat makes a baby turtle male. Duke Today, May 10, 2018. Scientists have started to crack the 50-year-old puzzle of how temperature turns baby turtles male or female. In a study in the journal Science, researchers show that cooler egg incubation temperatures turn up a key gene called Kdm6b in the turtle’s immature sex organs. This in turn acts as a biological “on” switch, activating other genes that allow testes to develop without altering the underlying genetic code. Picked up by Science News and BBC News.
Why a robot can’t yet outjump a flea
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Why a robot can’t yet outjump a flea. Duke Today, April 26, 2018. Smashing mantis shrimp. Snapping trap-jaw ants. Stinging jellyfish. Some of the fastest living things — at least over short distances — are also the smallest. A new mathematical model explores how the smallest and speediest things on Earth generate their powerful jumps, snaps, strikes and punches. The model could help explain why robots can’t hold a candle to the fastest-moving insects and other tiny-but-powerful creatures, and how they could get closer. Picked up by Scientific American, Wired, Popular Mechanics, Quartz and Tech Times.
Warming climate could speed forest regrowth in eastern U.S.
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Warming climate could speed forest regrowth in eastern U.S. Duke Today, April 16, 2018. Warming climate could speed the natural regrowth of forests on undeveloped or abandoned land in the eastern United States, according to a new study. Previous research has shown that the succession from field to forest can happen decades sooner in the southeastern U.S. than in the Northeast. But it wasn’t obvious why. A new study points to temperature as the major factor influencing the pace of reforestation.
Mouse lemurs, decoded
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Mouse lemurs, decoded. 1,100 Words on Duke Research, April 12, 2018. Scientists have published a new and improved genome sequence for mouse lemurs, tiny primates that sometimes develop Alzheimer’s-like symptoms as they age, just like humans.
Researcher turns wood into larger-than-life insects
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Researcher turns wood into larger-than-life insects. Duke Research blog, March 27, 2018. Alejandro Berrio is a postdoctoral associate in biology at Duke. He’s also a woodcarver, having exhibited his shoebox-sized models of praying mantises, wasps, crickets and other creatures in museums and galleries on two continents.
How infighting turns toxic for chimpanzees
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How infighting turns toxic for chimpanzees. Duke Today, March 26, 2018. How did a once-unified community of chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, end up at each other’s throats? In a new study, researchers mapped the chimps’ social networks at different periods leading up to the split to pinpoint when relations began to fray, and test ideas about what caused the rift. The most likely culprit was a power struggle among three top-ranking males, which was made worse by a shortage of fertile females, results show. Picked up by Quartz, CBC News, Seeker, Futurity and the Daily Mail.
Duke Olympian will soon defend her Ph.D.
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Duke Olympian will soon defend her Ph.D. Duke Today, March 19, 2018. Q&A with Randi Griffin, Duke student and forward for historic Korean hockey team.
How the color-changing hogfish ‘sees’ with its skin
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How the color-changing hogfish ‘sees’ with its skin. Duke Today, March 12, 2018. The hogfish can go from white to reddish in milliseconds as it adjusts to shifting conditions in the ocean. Scientists have long suspected that animals with quick-changing colors don’t just rely on their eyes to tune their appearance to their surroundings — they also sense light with their skin. But exactly how remains a mystery. A study reveals that hogfish skin senses light differently from eyes. Picked up by Futurity.
Faster DNA computing
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Faster DNA computing. 1,100 words on Duke Research, Feb. 12, 2018. Computers may one day be tiny enough to work inside cells, thanks to DNA.
Researchers get Superman’s X-ray vision
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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.
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.