Duke in the News: Oct. 20, 2006

INVISIBILITY CLOAK COULD BECOME A REALITY USA Today, Oct. 20 -- Harry Potter's invisibility cloak just got a little closer to reality. Two Duke scientists and their colleagues have built the world's first device to render an object invisible. ... Full story --Also, ABC News: Scientists Create Cloak of Invisibility (AP story also appeared in Chicago Tribune and more than 500 other media outlets.) ... Full story MSNBC's Countdown With Keith Olbermann: Sight Unseen (Video not available online; e-mailed upon request to dukenews@duke.edu.) The New York Times: Cloaking Copper, Scientists Take Step Toward Invisibility ... Full story (London) The Times: Don't Look Now -- Visible Gains in the Quest for Invisibility ... Full story Christian Science Monitor: Disappear Into Thin Air? Scientists Take Step Toward Invisibility ... Full story Australian Broadcasting, Reuters: Invisibility Cloak a Step Closer ... Full story (Raleigh) News & Observer: 'Invisibility Cloak' a Step Closer ... Full story

BRODHEAD ON THE DUKE CASE CBS News, Oct. 19 -- 60 Minutes has posted unaired excerpts from Ed Bradley's interview in August with Duke President Richard Brodhead about how the university handled the lacrosse case. ... Watch --Also, Inside Higher Ed: Lessons From the Front Lines (by N.C. Central University Chancellor James H. Ammons and Christopher Simpson, the former vice president of public affairs and government relations at Indiana University) ... Full story Duke News: Duke and Men's Lacrosse (special website with background information) ... Full story

OP-ED: WILL THE COURTS UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION? San Diego Union-Tribune, Oct. 20 -- Erwin Chemerinsky, professor of law and political science at Duke, calls for federal judges to "stand up to Congress and the president" and declare unconstitutional key provisions of the Military Justice Act of 2006. (Also appeared today in the News & Observer.) ... Full story

DNA IS NOT DESTINY Discover, November 2006 -- Randy Jirtle, a professor of radiation oncology at Duke, discusses his work in the new science of epigenetics, which is rewriting the rules of disease, heredity, and identity. (Link to preview and full story for subscribers; e-mailed upon request to dukenews@duke.edu.) ... Preview/full story for subscribers

SHELL OIL PRESIDENT SAYS SUPPLY AND DEMAND SET COSTS (Durham) Herald-Sun, Oct. 20 -- "We the industry have trained people to be entitled to low-cost gasoline, never having explained how difficult it is to keep that low-cost gasoline in supply," Shell Oil President John Hofmeister told a Duke audience Thursday. ... Full story --Also, Duke Chronicle: Prez of Shell Speaks on Alternative Energy ... Full story

CHARLOTTE HOSTS WOMEN'S CONFERENCE News 14 Carolina, Oct. 19 -- Gwynn Swinson, vice president for communications and government/community relations at the Duke University Medical Center & Health System, spoke at the first-ever North Carolina Conference for Women on Thursday. (Scroll down to video link.) ... Full story

U.S. ELECTION: SHOWDOWN FOR CAPITOL HILL Nature, Oct. 18 -- Peter Agre, a Nobel-Prize-winning chemist and vice chancellor for science and technology at Duke, talks about the non-partisan origins of a political advocacy group he helped to found. ... Full story --Also, Comedy Central's The Colbert Report: Agre on the Scientists and Engineers for America Initiative (See two video links.) ... Watch Examiner.com: Scientists Form 527 to Support Pro-Science Issues ... Full story

V FOUNDATION AWARDS NEARLY $8M IN GRANTS Herald-Sun, Oct. 19 -- The V Foundation for Cancer Research has awarded nearly $8 million in research grants for 2006. Three Duke researchers were among this year's grant winners. ... Full story

ON THE AIR The nationally-syndicated Jeopardy! TV game show will feature another Duke-related clue, in the category "Hail to the Chief," on Friday's show. ... Website