A first draft of the “tree of life” for the roughly 2.3 million named species of animals, plants, fungi and microbes -- from platypuses to puffballs -- has been released.A collaborative effort among ...

Editor's Note: Avner Vengosh can be reached for additional comment at vengosh@duke.edu Duke provides an on-campus satellite uplink facility for live or pre-recorded television interviews. We are also ...

Whether you are a Mac person or a PC person, even the briefest exposure to the Apple logo may make you behave more creatively, according to recent research from Duke University's Fuqua School of ...

The binturong, or bearcat, is neither a bear nor a cat, but a shy member of the civet family that lives in the rainforests of Southeast Asia. Binturongs owe their popcorn-like scent to a chemical ...

Babies who are good at telling the difference between large and small groups of items even before learning how to count are more likely to do better with numbers in the future, according to new ...

The parrot's brain has a nested 'core and shell' structure for vocal learning. Neurons in the shell surrounding the established vocal centers of the parrot brain play a part in vocal learning and ...

3-D imaging of fossils is not new. A technique called micro-computed tomography uses X-rays to create a 3-D model of a fossil from a series of cross-sectional slices, using an amped-up version of the ...

It turns out that parents are right to nag: To succeed in school, kids should do their homework. Duke University researchers have reviewed more than 60 research studies on homework between 1987 and ...

A difference at the smallest level of DNA -- one amino acid on one gene -- can determine whether you find a given smell pleasant. A different amino acid on the same gene in your friend's body could ...

Paul Modrich's research has explained how the body repairs DNA mismatches, preventing disease. Photo: Duke Photography Paul Modrich, the James B. Duke professor in the Department of B iochemistry in ...

A study of power plants in five states has found that metals and other toxic materials are able to leach out of the unlined pits in which coal ash is currently stored. These materials have been found ...

Microscopic tears in a new kind of man-made material may actually help the substance bulk up like a bodybuilder at the gym. "We've shown how normally destructive mechanical forces can be channeled to ...