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 ...

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 ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

The discovery of the "exercise hormone" irisin three years ago and more than 170 related papers about it since have been called into question by recent research showing they were based on flawed ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

If you think your parents let your younger siblings get away with everything, you're probably right. A new study from researchers at Duke University, Johns Hopkins University and the University of ...

With 30 pages of handwritten calculations, Duke postdoctoral fellow Sho Yaida has laid to rest a 30-year-old mystery about the nature of glass and “disordered” materials at low temperatures. They may ...