Author Archive
Duke’s Dan Ariely on how we cheat
Thursday, March 11, 2010, 9:20 pm
Dan Ariely
To better understand stock markets or economic recessions, Dan Ariely likes to go where push comes to shove.
The Duke University professor is a behavioral economist who’s been in demand since the economy tanked nearly two years ago. The reason for his popularity is in his research.
Ariely looks at things that make no sense: Why does the price of an energy drink determine how many puzzles we solve? Taking a cue from his mother’s job as a parole officer, he also looks at behavior we know can get us into trouble, such as procrastinating and cheating.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether Ariely has an experiment going. Read more…
TEDxTriangle: Old techniques and new technology to harness ideas
Monday, March 8, 2010, 8:38 pmFeeling dull and uninspired? Try to practice selflessness like a Trappist monk. Play a video game that does more than entertain. Doodle.
The three tips could have come from self-help books, a consultant or a mentor. Instead, they came from the first TED talk in the Research Triangle Park area. The all-day, free event Saturday at RTP headquarters attracted more than 150 people, who on a sunny and balmy winter day sat inside, listened, did the wave and talked to people they had never met before.
Amy Calhoun
Durham couple Amy and Eric Calhoun organized TEDxTriangle, an offshoot of the TED conference, over the past 10 months using word of mouth, Twitter and Facebook to recruit speakers. In the spirit of TED, whose motto is “ideas worth spreading,” TEDxTriangle brought together local speakers willing to share their ideas and insights.
“We’ve been TED fans for a long time,” said Amy Calhoun, who runs a management consulting business. The goal of the conference, she said, was to get attendees excited, plant seeds of passion and help people connect to solve problems. Read more…
RTP Weekahead 3/1
Sunday, February 28, 2010, 6:35 pmEvents taking place the week of March 1 in the Research Triangle area that are open to the public: Read more…
RTP Wrapup 2/26
Friday, February 26, 2010, 12:22 amA Senate committee report blasts GlaxoSmithKline for being more concerned about the sales of Avandia than about possible serious cardiovascular risks associated with the blockbuster diabetes pill. Also, two Research Triangle area companies developing new drugs sign deals.
Needed: Cash to pay for innovation
Thursday, February 25, 2010, 1:02 amA $500 ticket to the Biotech conference Monday and Tuesday offered face time with heavy-hitting investors. After an 18-month, deep recession that dried up funding for drug research and development nationwide, it was a lure that attracted Research Triangle area companies to the Raleigh Convention Center in droves.
The visitors made it clear they and other investors remain skittish, but they also noted signs of hope, such as the handful of initial public offerings by biotech companies in past months and an adjustment in venture funding last year in favor of early-stage companies.
Stephen Sands
“When we look at a year ago, we’re really all taking a breath of relief that the Dow [Jones stock index] is over 10,000,” said Stephen Sands, vice chairman of U.S. investment banking in Lazard’s healthcare group, who moderated a panel addressing the future of biotech funding at the conference. Read more…
RTP Weekahead 2/22
Sunday, February 21, 2010, 9:21 pmEvents taking place the week of Feb. 22 in the Research Triangle area that are open to the public: Read more…
RTP Wrapup 2/19
Thursday, February 18, 2010, 11:18 pmNovozymes says it has figured out how to make cellulosic ethanol possible that costs about the same as gasoline, GlaxoSmithKline’s restless leg drug raises safety concerns and the Hamner Institutes team up with a leading cancer cluster in Oslo, Norway. Read more…
Fight against cancer gets personal
Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 8:43 pmThe pink ribbon, the icon for breast cancer awareness, and symbols representing other cancers may soon be outdated.
The symbols of tomorrow may cut across types of cancer and stand for a common protein whose long name includes the word kinase, a receptor on a cell’s surface where chemical messages attach, or a virus that is found in up to 80 percent of U.S. adults. Whatever people will identify with to support cancer research, prevention and treatment, it may no longer have anything to do with where the tumor is.
Dr. Duane Mitchell
If that is difficult to imagine, listen to Dr. Duane Mitchell, associate director of Duke University’s brain tumor immunotherapy program: “The hope is that there will be a common pathway that drives several cancer types,” Mitchell said Tuesday during a presentation to the Triangle Area Research Directors Council, an informal group of scientific leaders in the Research Triangle Park area.
Mitchell is part of a research group at Duke that is looking into ways to make cancer treatment less toxic and more effective. The Duke researchers are zeroing in on glioblastoma, a brain tumor that doesn’t respond well to treatment and usually kills within 15 months of being diagnosed. Read more…
RTP Weekahead 2/15
Sunday, February 14, 2010, 5:48 pmEvents taking place the week of Feb. 15 in the Research Triangle area that are open to the public: Read more…
