The Duke Digest - January 23, 2013


In Today's Issue:
  • Duke Engineers Develop More Efficient, Versatile, and Cheaper Sensor
  • Spotlight on Duke in Washington: Inaugural Ball, 113th Congress Reception, and More
  • New Initiative Prepares Students for Society's Challenges
  • Opinion - Another View: How Military Leaders Can Change the Conversation on Guns
  • More Than 31,750 High School Seniors Apply to Duke
  • Opinion - Don't Sign the Wrong Fracking Petition
  • Hydraulic Fracturing Produces Less Wastewater Per Unit of Gas, but More Overall

 

DUKE ENGINEERS DEVELOP MORE EFFICIENT, VERSATILE, CHEAPER SENSOR
Duke University engineers have developed a novel “sensor” that is more efficient, versatile, and cheaper for potential use in such applications as airport security scanners, and collision avoidance systems for aircraft, cars or maritime vessels.

The researchers fabricated a unique material, known as a metamaterial, that acts as a “lens” to image scenes using fewer components than conventional detectors. Because of the properties of this man-made material, much of the additional equipment needed for conventional detector systems – like lenses, mechanical positioners, and data storage or transmissions devices – are not required.

The research was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

Read More:
Novel Sensor Provides Bigger Picture (Pratt.Duke.edu)


SPOTLIGHT ON DUKE IN WASHINGTON: INAUGURAL BALL, 113TH CONGRESS RECEPTION, AND MORE
Duke University's new Washington, D.C., office is already proving to be useful for Blue Devils doing research and learning in the nation's capital. This week, it even was valuable as a place to prepare for an inauguration.

Read More:
A New Administration, a New Congress, and a New Duke in Washington Office (Today.Duke.edu)


NEW INITIATIVE PREPARES STUDENTS FOR SOCIETY'S CHALLENGES
A $50 million gift from Anne T. and Robert M. Bass of Fort Worth, Texas, will launch an initiative to encourage Duke students and faculty to collaborate across traditional academic boundaries to develop the broad expertise and perspective needed to tackle complex societal problems, the university announced Tuesday.

"Bass Connections" will provide a range of new educational pathways for Duke's undergraduate, graduate and professional students and bring them together on project teams with faculty and others to address issues that require the expertise of educators and researchers with diverse backgrounds. The initiative will focus initially on five broad areas: brain and society; education and human development; energy; global health; and, information, society and culture.

Read More:
New Initiative Prepares Students for Society's Challenges (Today.Duke.edu)


OPINION - ANOTHER VIEW: HOW MILITARY LEADERS CAN CHANGE THE CONVERSATION ON GUNS
Kristin Goss, associate professor of public policy and political science and director of the Sanford School's Duke in DC academic program, writes writes in an opinion piece appearing in the DesMoines Register:

"[The notion that everyday Americans can buy lethal weapons without training] has started resonating again in recent days as high-profile members of the military — notably Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Gen. Colin Powell and Iraq War veteran (and Delaware attorney general) Maj. Beau Biden — have waded into the national gun control debate.

Why do military voices matter? For one, they know their weapons...Second, many military personnel and veterans are themselves gun owners. They are credible defenders of the Second Amendment, but they also know, first hand, the destructive power of guns."

Read More:
Another View: How Military Leaders Can Change the Conversation on Guns (desmoinesregister.com)


MORE THAN 31,750 HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS APPLY TO DUKE
More than 31,750 high school seniors have submitted applications for admission to Duke University this year, a slight increase over last year's record total of 31,619.

This marks the sixth year in a row in which the number of applications has set a record. The number of applicants to Duke has increased by 56 percent -- more than 11,000 applications -- in the last five years alone.

Read More:
More Than 31,750 High School Seniors Apply to Duke (Today.Duke.edu)


OPINION - DON'T SIGN THE WRONG FRACKING PETITION
Tom Katsouleas, Dean of Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, writes in a piece on Forbes.com:

"[R]ather than insist on banning fracking, let’s insist on research to understand and prevent the environmental damage of fracking before it becomes a problem."

Read More:
Dont's Sign the Wrong Fracking Petition (Forbes.com)


HYDRAULIC FRACTURING PRODUCES LESS WASTEWATER PER UNIT OF GAS, BUT MORE OVERALL
Hydraulically fractured natural gas wells are producing less wastewater per unit of gas recovered than conventional wells would. But the scale of fracking operations in the Marcellus shale region is so vast that the wastewater it produces threatens to overwhelm the region's wastewater disposal capacity, according to new analysis by researchers at Duke and Kent State universities.

Read More:
Hydraulic Fracturing Produces Less Wastewater Per Unit of Gas, but More Overall (Nicholas.Duke.edu)