DR/TL? (Didn't read/Too long?)

ANIMALS AND MICROBES

It’s creepy, and it’s kooky: Dulichiella cf. appendiculata, a crustacean about the size of the eye of a large needle, can snap its giant claw (which makes up 30 percent of its weight) shut 10,000 times faster than the blink of a human eye. * Malaria appears to have thrown the evolutionary process into overdrive on the African island of Cabo Verde. Genetic adaptations usually take thousands of years, but on Cabo Verde, settled only in the 1400s, malaria seems to have caused a human DNA response in only twenty generations. * Chimpanzee cells age faster than human cells—which makes sense. Chimpanzees live only about five-eighths as long as people.

PEOPLE

Students don’t appear to move predictably leftward politically in their first year of college, but their dorm roommates seem to influence their thinking. * Women with lung inflammation and scarring caused by interstitial lung disease (ILD) can safely carry babies to term if they are closely monitored by trained specialists. * Harsher immigration enforcement means immigrant moms get poorer prenatal care and have babies with lower birth weights. * If you say your body can smell something bad that’s not traditionally sniffable, you may not be wrong. Olfactory neurons in the nose may contribute to the body’s early response to influenza infection. *

MISCELLANY

As the International Seabed Authority develops deep-sea mineral exploration in the Atlantic basin, it is urging member states to participate in virtual commemoration of the millions of Africans who suffered and lost their lives in the Middle Passage on slave ships. * Looking to keep rogue drones out of your area? The Duke Humans and Autonomy Lab created a system to detect rogue drones in prisons and other outdoor places concerned about privacy and safety. The system involves a cell phone, radio frequency analyzer, and some other stuff, and it’s hidden in a tree, supported by a 3D-printed jumble that looks like a hawk’s nest. Plans for the nest are free! * A new nanoscale device can absorb solar energy and trap existing heat but when necessary can reflect sunlight out of the atmosphere. Used widely it could control building climate so effectively that it could cut HVAC energy use by 20 percent. * One good way to prevent future pandemics might be to stop cutting down forests and trafficking in wild animals. *

DUKE

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded a $4.5 million grant to Duke's Center for Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Infectious Disease (WaSH-AID) to do field testing of sanitation technology in communities in India. * Thirty-seven Duke researchers were included in the annual list of Most Highly Cited Researchers. * Duke senior Yuexuan Chen has been named a Schwarzman Scholar, a program that funds one year of study in Beijing. Chen is among 140 scholars chosen from more than 3,600 applicants worldwide. * Henry Taylor ’18 is among 24 U.S. recipients selected for a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, which supports graduate study at the University of Cambridge. * Vincent Guilamo-Ramos M.S.N. ’17—a national leader in advancing adolescent sexual reproductive health policy, practice, and science—will become dean of the Duke University School of Nursing and vice chancellor for Nursing Affairs. He will be the school’s second alumni dean but its first male and first Hispanic dean. * Greg Jones M.Div. ’85, Ph.D. ’88, dean of the Duke Divinity School, will step down at the end of the academic year to become president of Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. He began his second stint as dean in 2018, having previously led the school from 1997 to 2010. * The new Nakayama Public Service Scholars Program, part of the university’s efforts to encourage students to use their Duke experience to engage with large challenges facing communities around the world, will provide tuition assistance for five seniors who plan to enter public service following graduation. * Kevin White, director of athletics since 2008, will retire from the position in August. * Shruti Desai, formerly of Washington University, became Duke’s new associate vice president of Student Affairs for Campus Life, succeeding Zoila Airall. * A five-year, $4.5 million grant from The Duke Endowment has created a new program called Academic Guides, which will embed full-time advising and academic support professionals in Duke’s residential quads. * The Katz Family Behavioral Health & Wellness Project for Student-Athletes, funded by a $1.5  million endowed gift from Danny Katz ’80 and his wife, Nancy Katz, will expand and enhance behavioral health and wellness for Duke student-athletes. * Duke spent $1.26 billion on research in fiscal year 2019, ranking it tenth in the country; it is the ninth-largest recipient of federal research support.