Society & Culture - Mar 15, 2010 11:17 - 3 Comments
Monkeys like to mix it up
DUKE (US)—Given a choice between spending a token to get their absolute favorite food or spending it to have a choice from a buffet of options, capuchin monkeys will opt for variety. (more…)
Society & Culture - Mar 4, 2010 12:43 - 5 Comments
Marketers can (literally) read your mind
DUKE (US)—A new generation of marketing experts may be able to test a product’s appeal while it is still being designed using advanced techniques to see the human brain in action. (more…)
Science & Technology - Feb 25, 2010 12:24 - 1 Comment
Bigger animals sport stiffer ‘shoes’
DUKE (US)—The mechanical properties of the pads on the bottom of animals’ feet vary in predictable fashion as animals get larger. In short, bigger critters need stiffer shoes. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Feb 19, 2010 12:03 - 3 Comments
Statins inhibit inflammation in prostate tumors
DUKE (US)—Patients with prostate cancer who regularly use statins to lower their cholesterol may be enjoying a secondary benefit: The drugs significantly lower the degree of inflammation within prostate tumors. (more…)
Science & Technology - Feb 10, 2010 17:06 - 0 Comments
Sorting out one ‘creepy’ family tree
DUKE (US)—In a scientific and technological tour de force that was nearly a decade in the making, a team of scientists has compared genetic sequences from 75 different species to draw a new family tree that includes every major arthropod lineage. (more…)
Science & Technology - Feb 10, 2010 12:43 - 1 Comment
Hoop fans hang on to happy memories
DUKE (US)—In a novel study that used historical tape of a thrilling overtime basketball game between Duke and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, brain researchers have found that fans remember the good things their team did much better than the bad. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Feb 1, 2010 16:03 - 0 Comments
Unselfish apes live in ‘Peter Pan world’
DUKE (US)—For bonobos, sharing just comes naturally. In fact, unlike humans and chimpanzees, they seem incapable of being selfish—both as youngsters and as adults. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Jan 28, 2010 16:31 - 6 Comments
Signs of schizophrenia in childhood
DUKE (US)—Children who experience cognitive difficulties may develop schizophrenia as adults, a study shows. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Dec 9, 2009 14:20 - 5 Comments
Childhood trauma lingers in mind, body
DUKE (US)—Negative experiences in childhood may alter not only an adult’s psychology but also physical health into middle age and beyond. (more…)
Science & Technology - Dec 3, 2009 12:21 - 0 Comments
Human speech is music to our ears
DUKE (US)—Humans may love music, biologically speaking, because it mimics the sounds of our own voices. Neuroscientists say the use of 12 tone intervals in the music of many human cultures is rooted in the physics of how our vocal anatomy produces speech and conveys emotion. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Dec 2, 2009 11:21 - 3 Comments
Neurons mature rapidly at birth
DUKE (US)—At the moment a newborn switches from amniotic fluid to breathing air, another profound shift occurs: nerve cells in the brain convert from hyperexcitability to a calm frame against which outside signals can be detected. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Nov 30, 2009 14:39 - 3 Comments
Big dose of x-ray after heart attack
DUKE (US)—Acute heart attack patients receive an average dose of radiation that is equal to 725 chest X-rays, or 30 percent of the recommended annual limit, during an average hospital admission, according to a new study. (more…)
Society & Culture - Oct 22, 2009 12:24 - 0 Comments
Testosterone tumbled in McCain’s male voters
DUKE (US)—Young men who voted for Republican John McCain or Libertarian candidate Robert Barr in the 2008 presidential election suffered an immediate drop in testosterone when the election results were announced. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Oct 12, 2009 11:53 - 0 Comments
Molding cells to patch up broken hearts
DUKE (US)—By mimicking the way embryonic stem cells develop into heart muscle in a lab, bioengineers believe they have taken an important first step toward growing a living “heart patch” to repair heart tissue damaged by disease. (more…)
Science & Technology - Oct 8, 2009 15:29 - 0 Comments
Predicting when cells will be unpredictable
DUKE (US)—Scientists have discovered a quirky trait that makes some bacteria zig when others zag. The finding could help bioengineers fine-tune the development of synthetic “circuits”—designed to produce a myriad of useful proteins and chemicals. (more…)
Society & Culture - Oct 8, 2009 11:17 - 0 Comments
Shame motivates better than subsidy
DUKE (US)—Government subsidies persuade some people to change habits, but social shame works even better, suggests a recent study of efforts to reduce elevated childhood death and disease rates in rural India blamed on the microbial pathogens that cause diarrhea. (more…)
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