Archive for the ‘University Research’ Category
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…
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 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…
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2010, 8:43 pmThe pink ribbon, the icon for breast cancer awareness, and symbols representing other cancers may soon be outdated.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…
RTP Weekahead 2/8
Sunday, February 7, 2010, 5:24 pmEvents taking place the week of Feb. 8 in the Research Triangle area that are open to the public: Read more…
RTP Weekahead 2/1
Sunday, January 31, 2010, 10:33 pmEvents taking place the week of Feb. 1 in the Research Triangle area that are open to the public: Read more…
Ecology, conservation, and restoration of oyster reefs in North Carolina
Thursday, January 28, 2010, 9:10 pmOn Tuesday I went to the monthly pizza lunch at Sigma Xi, featuring a guest lecture by Dr. David B. Eggleston, Professor of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Science at North Carolina State University and the Director of Center for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST).
While Dr.Eggleston conducts research in several areas (and several geographic locationa), in this talk he focused on the ecology, conservation, and restoration of oyster reefs in North Carolina.
Fuels from the Sun
Thursday, January 14, 2010, 8:42 pm
Photon waves. (Wiki Commons)
The search for clean energy technologies is sparking a renewed effort to create fuels from sunlight-driven chemical reactions. Solar fuel technologies exist today but chemists across the nation are trying to figure out how to increase the efficiency of the reactions and create the next generation of photovoltaics.
About 100 faculty, students and visiting scientists gathered at the Univ. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill campus on Thursday to discuss advances in solar fuels research.
The event, organized by the Solar Energy Research Center, drew speakers from Johns Hopkins University, Cornell University, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. SERC itself is a consortium of UNC-CH, Duke, N.C. State University, N.C. Central University with RTI in Research Triangle Park. Read more…
