Futurity.org » Duke University

Fast-food diners say, ‘Downsize me’

Keith Brannon-Tulane — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:55:27 +0000

TULANE (US) — Asking consumers if they would like a smaller portion may be a better approach to curb overeating than posting calorie counts.

The study from Tulane University found that when servers asked customers whether they’d like to “downsize” starchy side dishes at a Chinese fast-food restaurant as many as a third gladly cut back—saving an average 200 calories each meal.

“Our goal was to test whether the invitation to downsize a meal component would be embraced by consumers and, importantly, whether the approach would be more effective than a purely information-based approach—in this case calorie labeling,” says lead study author Janet Schwartz, assistant professor of marketing at Tulane University.

Lizard’s evolution keeps ancestors close

Kat Kerlin-UC Davis — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:46:58 +0000

UC DAVIS / DUKE (US) — A devastating 2004 hurricane that wiped out a Caribbean lizard population offered an unprecedented opportunity to put an evolutionary theory known as the “founder effect” to the test.

The founder effect describes the loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new population is established by a very small number of individuals from a larger population. The extent to which it contributes to evolution has been up for debate since the early 1940s, when German evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr first outlined it.

Endangered whales stressed by noisy ships

Karl Bates-Duke — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:43:13 +0000

DUKE (US) — Exposure to low-frequency ship noise may be associated with chronic stress in whales, according to a new study.

The study, conducted in Canada’s Bay of Fundy, has implications for all baleen whales in areas with heavy ship traffic, and for the recovery of the endangered North Atlantic right whale population.

Thanks to copper, sulfur’s stink repels us

Karl Bates-Duke — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:11:14 +0000

DUKE (US) — Copper ions may be the cause of our sensitivity to sulfurous odors, like skunks, volcanic gases, and armpits.

When Hiroaki Matsunami, associate professor at Duke University, set out to study a chemical in male mouse urine called MTMT that attracts female mice, he didn’t think he would stumble into a new field of study.

By stopping misfolds, genes keep us healthy

Megan Fellman-Northwestern — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:24:28 +0000

NORTHWESTERN (US) — Researchers have identified a set of genes that prevent protein misfolding, a condition linked to a range of disorders, including Alzheimer’s and cancer.

To do its job within the cell, a protein must first fold itself into the proper shape. If it doesn’t, trouble can result—more than 300 diseases have at their root proteins that misfold, aggregate, and eventually cause cellular dysfunction and death.

To cut holiday debt, sort interest rates

Neil Schoenherr-WUSTL — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:26:34 +0000

WASHINGTON U.-ST.LOUIS (US) — What’s the best way to tackle holiday debt? Pay down the loan with the highest interest rate first, a new study finds.

Consumers, however, often take a slightly different approach, according to a consumer behavior expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

4-D coming to a universe near you?

First sex boosts guys’ body image

Future of hard drives: uranium?

Paralyzed man’s mind moves prosthetic arm

Sex appeal: Women kiss science goodbye

How much fish oil is too much?

Alaskan dig turns up ancient ‘buckle’

Why we quit when others succeed

Aging musicians have sharp brains

Wanted: Gender-free job ads

Scarier weapons get the (spider) girl

Karl Bates-Duke — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 13:43:14 +0000

DUKE (US) — The bigger a male jumping spider’s weapons appear to be, the more likely his rival will slink away without a fight, leaving the bigger guy a clear path to the waiting female.

Duke University graduate student Cynthia Tedore, working with her dissertation advisor, visual ecologist Sönke Johnsen, wanted to know what visual signals matter most to magnolia green jumping spiders, which have an impressive array of eyes, including two giant green ones that face forward.

Vision is clearly important to these quarter-inch animals, which Tedore says can be “very predaceous and aggressive,” when love is in the air.

Warm-up drives tropical birds to new heights

Tim Lucas-Duke — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:55:11 +0000

DUKE (US) — Tropical birds are moving to higher elevations because of climate change, but they may not be moving fast enough.

A new study by researchers at Duke University shows the birds aren’t migrating as rapidly as scientists previously anticipated, based on recorded temperature increases.

Mom’s touch may lower drug cravings

Karl Bates-Duke — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:40:36 +0000

DUKE (US) — An attentive, nurturing mother may be able to help her children better resist the temptations of drug use later in life, according to a study with rats.

A rat mother’s attention in early childhood actually changes the immune response in the brains of her pups by permanently altering genetic activity, according to Staci Bilbo, an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, who led the research published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

High-touch mothering increased the brain’s production of an immune system molecule called Interleukin-10, leaving these rats better able to resist the temptation of a dose of morphine much later in life.