Health and Science
Health and Science
tv promotes unhealthy diet
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The Chronicle T h e i n d e p e n d e n t d a i ly at D u k e U n i v e r s i t y
xxxxxday,november tuesDAY, mmmm xx,19, 2013 2013
Students use Wi-Fi to make electricity
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ONE ONE HUNDRED HUNDRED AND AND EIGHTH ninthYEAR, YEAR,Issue Issuexxx 53
Researchers raise money for Neuro.TV
I must-ache for your help
by Aubrey Temple
by Shangnon Fei
The Chronicle
Imagine the possibility of your cell phone charging as you sluggishly walk to your 8:30 a.m. class, eat a routine meal at the Loop Pizza Grill or holler like a maniac in Cameron Indoor Stadium—without it ever leaving your pocket. Researchers at the Pratt School of Engineering may be able to make this possibility into reality. When senior Allen Hawkes was a freshman, he came up with an idea to harvest energy from cellphone and Wi-Fi signals and put it to use. He and a team at Pratt have now tested a prototype that proves this is possible. The device is composed of metamaterials that are synthetically engineered to manipulate electromagnetic waves, capturing the energy waves from Wi-Fi signals and converting them into an electric current. Currently, the device is too big to be portable, but the long-term plan is to miniaturize it to fit inside cellphones and other handheld devices. See wi-fi, page 6
The Chronicle
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Duke Engineers for International Development are promoting “no shave November” to raise awareness for prostate cancer.
Two Duke researchers have teamed up to create a neuroscience education initiative with the promise of changing the relationship between research academia and the general public. The main masterminds are Jean-Francois Gariepy, a postdoctoral researcher in neurobiology, and Diana Xie, Trinity ‘13, a research assistant. The project, called NEURO.tv, is a webseries that will consist of discussions on a variety of brain-related topics between Gariepy and Xie and top neuroscience researchers. The project, launched on Kickstarter Nov. 1st, has already raised over $17,000 of its $25,000 funding goal. “The purpose of NEURO.tv is to make academic discussions available for free to everyone on the web,” Gariepy said. “We think that there are some fascinating discussions going on about how our brain works and how we are controlled, and we thought that instead of just losing those discussions in See neuro, page 6
DUSDAC considers Chai’s Noodle Bar and Bistro food truck by Carleigh Stiehm The Chronicle
Members of the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee sampled options from the Chai’s Noodle Bar and Bistro food truck as they consider adding it to the food truck line up for the 2014-15 academic year at their meeting Monday. The truck—run by the same venue that currently operates under the Merchants on Points program—offers selections that vary greatly from their delivery options, featuring tacos, Asian buns and hotdogs for $3.50. The truck started really pursuing business in Sep-
tember, said Bill Shahady, the co-owner of the truck, adding that, thus far, the sales are going really well. “We want to keep the prices as reasonable as the prices will allow,” he said. Several committee members expressed concern that the menu does not offer a selection of gluten free options, but Shahady said that the menu could be evaluated to include more gluten free and vegetarian dishes. “We make everything to order,” Shahady said. “We ordered it, and then we put it on the grill.” Typical contracts with Duke Dining oper-
ate from July to June of the next year, so DUSDAC does not need to make a final decision about Chai’s for some time, senior Chris Taylor, co-chair of DUSDAC, said. Representatives from the Nutrition Education Task Force—a student group focusing on nutrition and healthy dining at Duke—presented concerns about the lack of healthy options on campus. “This is a new student group this year that is focused on nutrition education around campus,” dietitian clinician Kate Pilewski said. “This is a brand new group, so we are definitely still growing.”
Junior Melina Smith said she hopes the task force can act as a mediator to make information provided by Duke Dining more accessible to the student body. She noted that some freshmen are very concerned that the staff of Marketplace lack knowledge about the nutrition and ingredients in their foods. Toni Apadula, another dietician clinician, said that many of the ways in which Marketplace publicizes its nutrition are controlled by the Bon Appetite service. See dusdac, page 6
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