Latest Duke University Stories
Step aside copper and make way for a better carrier of information -- light.As good as the metal has been in zipping information from one circuit to another on silicon inside computers and other electronic devices, optical signals can carry much more, according to Duke University electrical engineers. So the engineers have designed and demonstrated microscopically small lasers integrated with thin film-light guides on silicon that could replace the copper in a host of electronic products.The...
Being the right size and existing in the limbo between a solid and a liquid state appear to be the secrets to improving the efficiency of chemical catalysts that can create better nanoparticles or more efficient energy sources.When matter is in this transitional state, a catalyst can achieve its utmost potential with the right combination of catalyst particle size and temperature, according to a pair of Duke University researchers. A catalyst is an agent or chemical that facilitates a...
Researchers measure survival, reproduction of thousands of arctic and alpine plants over six yearsAs Earth's climate warms, species are expected to shift their geographical ranges away from the equator or to higher elevations.While scientists have documented such shifts for many plants and animals, the ranges of others seem stable.When species respond in different ways to the same amount of warming, it becomes more difficult for ecologists to predict future biological effects of climate...
The yellow monkeyflower, an unassuming little plant that lives as both a perennial on the foggy coasts of the Pacific Northwest and a dry-land annual hundreds of miles inland, harbors a significant clue about evolution.Duke graduate student and native northern Californian David Lowry had become interested in how a single species could live such different lifestyles. He set out to find a gene or genes that would account for the monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus) being a lush, moisture-loving,...
Publicly available cell-phone applications from application markets are releasing consumers' private information to online advertisers, according to a joint study by Intel Labs, Penn State, and Duke University.Researchers at the participating institutions have developed a realtime monitoring service called TaintDroid that precisely analyses how private information is obtained and released by applications "downloaded" to consumer phones. TaintDroid is an extension to the Android...
Duke University bioengineers have not only figured out a way to sneak molecular spies through the walls of individual cells, they can now slip them into the command center -- or nucleus -- of those cells, where they can report back important information or drop off payloads.Using silver nanoparticles cloaked in a protein from the HIV virus that has an uncanny ability to penetrate human cells, the scientists have demonstrated that they can enter the inner workings of the nucleus and detect...
While scientists have spent the past 40 years describing the intricate series of events that occur when one mammalian cell divides into two, they still haven't agreed on how the process begins.There are two seemingly contradictory theories, which now may be reconciled by a third theory being proposed by Duke University bioengineer Lingchong You. These findings could provide insights into the initiation of disease, such as cancer, which is marked by uncontrolled cell proliferation.During...
Tomorrow's business leaders identify 400,000 metric tons of annual greenhouse gas reductions in top companies WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This summer, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) placed specially-trained MBA students at 47 leading companies -- including Bloomberg, eBay, McDonald's, Pepsi, Target, Verizon and Xerox -- to search out big energy savings. These EDF Climate Corps fellows uncovered energy efficiency opportunities that represent net operating savings of...
DURHAM, N.C., Sept. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Parata Systems won the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce 2010 Business Excellence Award in the "Large Business" category. The Business Excellence Awards highlight the accomplishments of businesses and individuals in the Durham community. This year's awards program recognized a small, medium and large business, as well as non-profits and business leaders, for their efforts in making Durham stronger. The Chamber presented the awards at an event hosted...
Under the microscope, the bacteria start dividing normally, two cells become four and then eight and so on. But then individual cells begin "popping," like circus balloons being struck by darts.This phenomenon, which surprised the Duke University bioengineers who captured it on video, turns out to be an example of a more generalized occurrence that must be considered by scientists creating living, synthetic circuits out of bacteria. Even when given the same orders, no two cells will...
