Rate of Change

Lightning has been striking the Earth for billions of years, but it's only in the past few decades that scientists have started to uncover its flashiest secrets. Is lightning the same everywhere in the world? Does harvesting its energy to power our society—or a time machine—make any sense? From enormous bolts streaking toward space to powerfully mysterious gamma ray bursts, we explore this common but little understood natural phenomenon with one of the world's leading researchers on the topic Professor Steve Cummer. Transcript: pratt.duke.edu/news/lightning-talks

In this episode, Jamal sat down with Ernesto Escobar, the Executive Director of Duke's Game Design Development and Innovation Master's Program, and founder of Fanaticus XR. Together, they explore the positive impact of video games, debunk common misconceptions, and discuss the importance of diversity and inclusivity in the gaming industry. Transcript: https://pratt.duke.edu/news/game-changer

When Becky Simmons first got to Duke in the 1990s, she wouldn't have guessed it then, but a future awaited her that included graduate school, a husband, two daughters, professorship and ties that would bind them all to Duke for decades.

Andrew Van Horn and Debopriyo Biswas, two grad students from the Duke Quantum Center, chat about how quantum technology is portrayed is popular film and tv. What does pop quantum get right? What does it get wrong? And why does it even matter?

Duke CEE faculty member Andrew Jones investigates how and where bacterial communities thrive in the built environment—and imagines a future water smart grid that's accessible to everyone. Transcript available at https://pratt.duke.edu/about/news/podcast/what-makes-happy-community

Today, researchers use a variety of imaging techniques to visualize and analyze biological systems, but there are limits to how much—and how well—these tools can see. But Duke BME's Roarke Horstmeyer and his team are creating new microscopes and imaging algorithms to capture biomedical images at never-before-seen scales. Transcript available at https://pratt.duke.edu/about/news/podcast/multiplying-microscopes

She's an analyst. He's an algebrist. She loves displays of unbridled creativity; he has journaled every day for thirty years. Between the two of them, Duke power couple Ingrid Daubechies and Robert Calderbank have changed the way society shares and processes information.

Duke Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science professor Adrian Bejan escaped the Iron Curtain to pursue his dreams. Listen to discover how his freedom led him to formulate constructal theory, which connects physics to evolution through the freedom of change. Transcript available at https://pratt.duke.edu/about/news/podcast/inescapable-need-freedom

What's in our drinking water? Duke professor of civil and environmental engineering Lee Ferguson uses non-targeted analysis to gather clues about chemical contaminants, making it possible to identify them and trace them back to their points of origin. Transcript available at pratt.duke.edu/about/news/podcast/chemical-detective

Current drugs for osteoporosis can only slow or stop progression of bone loss. What's gone is gone. Duke University Professor Shyni Varghese has built a new molecule that rebuilds bone—and may transform osteoporosis treatment. Transcript available at https://pratt.duke.edu/about/news/podcast/reversing-bone-loss-due-osteoporosis

Duke Biomedical Engineering Professor Emeritus Bob Malkin and a string of undergraduates have built a program to deliver anti-HIV medication to birthing mothers in rural settings around the world

Duke Biomedical Engineering professor Junjie Yao has helped pioneer the field of photoacoustic imaging, which uses light and sound to create detailed and informative biological images of everything from a single cell to an entire body. Transcript available at https://pratt.duke.edu/about/news/podcast/turning-photons-soundwaves

If discovering and designing next-gen materials is like cooking, Duke engineer Cate Brinson is writing the materials cookbook.

If the last year has shown us anything, it’s that fast and accurate diagnostic tests are key for helping to control the spread of a dangerous disease. In this episode, Duke BME’s Ashutosh Chilkoti and his PhD students explain how the lab’s signature diagnostic platform is being modified to quickly and accurately detect COVID-19.

Between measuring our activity levels, heart rate and sleeping schedules, today’s smart watches seem to give us a better picture of our overall health. Duke BME’s Jessilyn Dunn explores the endless potential—and hidden limitations—of this data.

Women and girls are disproportionately affected when access to safely managed sanitation is lacking. Duke ECE engineer Sonia Grego wants to change that.

Washing our hands with soap and running water for at least twenty seconds helps prevent the spread of pathogens. For areas of the world where water is scarce, ECE faculty member Brian Stoner and his colleagues at WaSH-AID are reclaiming usable water from an unlikely source.

A conversation with Henry Petroski on the current state of disrepair of America’s roads and bridges, why fixing them may require unpopular politics, and what the future might hold for their improvement

Po-Chun Hsu is developing textiles that heat and cool at the individual level—a scaled-back approach to climate control that could help curb emissions in the U.S.

Duke professor of biomedical engineering Nenad Bursac is learning how muscles can recover from injury, by using stem cells to create new muscles from scratch.

Cynthia Rudin is a professor of computer science and electrical and computer engineering at Duke University, and a harsh critic of using black box algorithms in high-stakes decisions.

Duke professor David Katz works at the intersection of biomedical engineering and reproductive health. His research informs efforts to prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases—most notably human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV.

Air pollution in India degrades everything from cultural heritage sites like the Taj Mahal to solar energy production. Duke civil and environmental engineering professor Mike Bergin is trying to fill in some of the knowledge gaps about what the pollution is and where it comes from, to better manage its effects.

Rate of Change is a new podcast from Duke Engineering, dedicated to the ingenious ways that engineers are solving society's toughest problems.