Robin Ann Smith

For weary scholars, a moment to regroup, reconnect…and write. Duke Research blog, Jan. 3, 2023. Most scholars know all too well the burnout faculty and students face at the end of the semester. But for a few precious hours, they hit pause on the onslaught of meetings and other duties to work alongside fellow writers.

Designing With DNA. Duke Today, Dec. 23, 2022. New software lets researchers create tiny balls, other rounded shapes from folded molecules of DNA. Here’s why that’s cool. Picked up by ZME Science and New Atlas.

Traveling with friends helps even mixed-up migrators find their way. Duke Research blog, Dec. 6, 2022. How do migrating animals travel so far, and reach their destination so precisely? For many animals, the answer is magnetoreception. New computer modeling research shows how sticking together helps migrating animals get to where they need to go, even when their magnetic compass leads them astray. Picked up by Futurity.

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.

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.

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.

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. 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. ‘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.

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.

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. 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.

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.