Featured Post from Baylor University

Baylor Biology Professor Travels To Antarctica To Study Leopard Seals As Part Of NSF-Funded Research

Apr 5, 2018

1 min

As part of an $800,000 National Science Foundation-funded project, Stephen J. Trumble, Ph.D., associate professor of biology at Baylor, and other experienced Antarctica researchers from the University of California, Santa Cruz and Colorado State University will work to gain an understanding of the foraging ecology and physiology of the leopard seal, an Antarctic apex, or top, predator.


“This three-year project will collect data on foraging and dive behavior, diet, habitat use and fuel use in leopard seals,” Trumble said. “Ultimately, the goal is to relate foraging behavior with physiological performance and determine physiological limits. The estimated physiological limits combined with habitat modeling will help us understand how leopard seals may respond and cope with a changing Antarctic environment.”


Trumble and his fellow researchers will conduct their research at the remote Cape Shirreff Field Station on Livingston Island, relying on 55-years of combined experience and lights to navigate the terrain in the dark while searching for leopard seals.


A vertebrate physiologist and expert in marine mammals, Trumble has made his fair share of national research headlines since he began working at Baylor in 2008. Along with his graduate students in his Laboratory of Ecological and Adaptational Physiology (LEAP), Dr. Trumble investigates and publishes on basic and applied research involving skeletal muscle physiology, organismal energetics, lipid biochemistry, digestive physiology and health indices in models ranging from rats to seals to whales.


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3 min

Dinosaurs in New Mexico Thrived Until the Very End, Study Shows

For decades, many scientists believed dinosaurs were already dwindling in number and variety long before an asteroid strike sealed their fate 66 million years ago. But new research in the journal Science from Baylor University, New Mexico State University, the Smithsonian Institution and an international team is rewriting that story. The dinosaurs, it turns out, were not fading away. They were flourishing. A final flourish in the San Juan Basin In northwestern New Mexico, layers of rock preserve a hidden chapter of Earth’s history. In the Naashoibito Member of the Kirtland Formation, researchers uncovered evidence of vibrant dinosaur ecosystems that thrived until just before the asteroid impact. High-precision dating techniques revealed that fossils from these rocks are between 66.4 and 66 million years old – placing them in the catastrophic Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. “The Naashoibito dinosaurs lived at the same time as the famous Hell Creek species in Montana and the Dakotas... They were not in decline – these were vibrant, diverse communities.” – Daniel Peppe, Ph.D. “The Naashoibito dinosaurs lived at the same time as the famous Hell Creek species in Montana and the Dakotas,” said Daniel Peppe, Ph.D., associate professor of geosciences at Baylor University. “They were not in decline – these were vibrant, diverse communities.” Dinosaurs in their prime The New Mexico fossils tell a different story than originally thought. Far from being uniform and weakened, dinosaur communities across North America were regionally distinct and thriving. Using ecological and biogeographic analyses, the researchers discovered that dinosaurs in western North America lived in separate “bioprovinces,” divided not by mountains or rivers, but by temperature differences across regions. “What our new research shows is that dinosaurs are not on their way out going into the mass extinction,” said first author Andrew Flynn, Ph.D., ‘20, assistant professor of geological sciences at New Mexico State University. “They're doing great, they're thriving and that the asteroid impact seems to knock them out. This counters a long-held idea that there was this long-term decline in dinosaur diversity leading up to the mass extinction making them more prone to extinction.” Life after impact The asteroid impact ended the age of dinosaurs in an instant – but the ecosystems they left behind set the stage for what came next, the researchers said. Within 300,000 years of their extinction, mammals began to diversify rapidly, exploring new diets, body sizes and ecological roles. The same temperature-driven patterns that shaped dinosaur communities continued into the Paleocene, showing how climate guided life’s rebound after catastrophe. “The surviving mammals still retain the same north and south bio provinces,” Flynn said. “Mammals in the north and the south are very different from each other, which is different than other mass extinctions where it seems to be much more uniform.” Why the discovery matters today The discovery is more than a window into the past – it’s a reminder of the resilience and vulnerability of life on Earth. Conducted on public lands managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the research highlights how carefully protected landscapes can yield profound insights into how ecosystems respond to sudden global change. With a clearer understanding of the timeline of the dinosaurs’ final days, the study reveals not a slow fade into extinction but a dramatic ending to a story of flourishing diversity cut short by cosmic chance.

2 min

Why TikTok Keeps You Scrolling: Baylor Research Explains the Science Behind Social Media Addiction

Why is it so hard to stop scrolling TikTok? A new study by Baylor University marketing professors and social media researchers James A. Roberts, Ph.D. and Meredith E. David, Ph.D., reveals that the answer lies not only in the app’s content, but in its design. Their research, published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, is among the first to compare the technological affordances – the built-in design features that shape user behavior – of three leading short-form video (SFV) platforms: TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. The findings reveal that TikTok’s combination of ease of use, highly accurate recommendations and surprising content variety creates a powerful recipe for user engagement – and, in many cases, addiction. The power of effortless design In their study, Roberts and David had participants rate each platform on three key technological affordances: perceived effortlessness, recommendation accuracy and serendipity (the element of surprise) and answer questions measuring their levels of social media engagement and addictive use. The results were clear: TikTok scored significantly higher than Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts across all categories. Users in the study said TikTok required the least effort to use, delivered the most relevant videos and surprised them most often with unexpected but enjoyable content. “It’s the combination of all three that keeps people scrolling,” David said. “But the prerequisite is effortlessness. Without that ease of use, the other two wouldn’t matter as much.” TikTok’s seamless experience – where videos begin playing automatically the moment the app opens – creates a sense of immersion unmatched by competitors. Other platforms require users to click or select a video before viewing begins, a subtle difference that nonetheless makes TikTok feel faster and more intuitive. Engagement becomes addiction The study found that TikTok’s technological affordances indirectly increase addiction by first increasing engagement. The more users engage, the more likely they are to lose track of time – a phenomenon known as time distortion. David said this design is no accident. “TikTok’s algorithm is intentionally created to be addictive,” she said. “Their own materials acknowledge that users can become hooked after less than half an hour on the app.” She noted that even users who recognize these patterns often underestimate how long they spend scrolling. “We all need to be more cognizant of our time on these platforms,” David said. “Check your phone’s screen-time data – you may be surprised.” Implications for users and policy Beyond individual awareness, the researchers point to the broader social impact of overuse – particularly for young people. Excessive time on short-form video apps can erode attention spans, foster expectations for instant gratification and displace face-to-face interaction. “These platforms are designed to hold our attention,” David said. “But the opportunity cost is huge. The more time we spend scrolling, the less time we have for the activities that build real connection and meaning.”

3 min

Self-Guided Hypnosis Significantly Reduces Menopausal Hot Flashes

Can a simple daily audio hypnosis session help women find relief from one of menopause’s most disruptive symptoms – hot flashes – without medication? A new clinical trial led by Baylor University’s Gary R. Elkins, Ph.D., professor of psychology and neuroscience and director of the Mind-Body Medicine Research Laboratory, suggests it can. By decreasing hot flash frequency and intensity by over 50%, self-guided hypnosis offers a nonhormonal option for the millions of women whose hot flashes interfere with sleep, mood and quality of life. Published in the journal JAMA Network Open, the multicenter randomized clinical trial evaluated the effectiveness of a six-week, self-administered hypnosis program compared to a sham control using white noise. The study enrolled 250 postmenopausal women experiencing frequent hot flashes, including nearly 25% with a history of breast cancer – a group often excluded from hormone-based treatments. “It is estimated that over 25 million women in the United States have hot flashes, with up to 80% of women in the general population reporting hot flashes during the menopause transition, and 96% of women with breast cancer report hot flashes soon after beginning anti-cancer therapy,” Elkins said. “While hormone replacement therapy is highly effective in reducing hot flashes, it is not a safe choice for everyone, and therefore, women need additional safe and effective alternatives.” After six weeks of daily self-hypnosis audio recordings, participants reported a 53.4% reduction in both frequency and intensity of hot flashes, and at the 3-month follow-up, hot flashes were reduced by 60.9% compared to a 40.9% reduction for women in the control group. The guided self-hypnosis intervention had an even larger treatment effect on reducing hot flashes in women with a history of breast cancer (64% reduction after six weeks). Self-guided hypnosis: A breakthrough approach The study is the first to compare self-guided hypnosis with an active control condition (i.e. sham white noise control group), allowing researchers to better understand how much of the benefit came from people’s expectations or the placebo effect. “This was a major breakthrough and innovation, as almost all prior studies of mind-body interventions have only used wait-list, psycho-education or simple relaxation to compare the active hypnotherapy intervention,” Elkins said. “Also, all sessions were self-administered hypnosis, which demonstrated that women could learn how to use hypnosis for hot flashes on their own with support and guidance. Elkins emphasized that self-hypnosis provides benefits that are easily learned and practiced using audio recordings or app-delivered hypnotherapy. “It can be practiced at home without needing to travel for doctor visits, and it is relatively inexpensive compared to in-person sessions,” Elkins said. “Once a person learns how to use self-hypnosis to reduce hot flashes and improve sleep, it can be used for other purposes such as managing anxiety, coping with pain and for stress management.” At the 12-week follow-up, participants in the self-guided hypnosis group showed a 60.9% reduction in hot flashes as well as significantly greater improvements in sleep, mood, concentration and overall quality of life. Nearly 90% of participants in the hypnosis group reported feeling better, compared to 64% in the control group. “We are very excited about the findings from this important study,” Elkins said. “Our ongoing research aims to further determine how self-hypnosis can significantly improve sleep for breast cancer survivors and women in the peri- to post-menopause transition.” Through this and other studies, Elkins and his team have been able to determine that hypnotherapy is the only behavioral intervention consistently shown to reduce the frequency and severity of hot flashes to a clinically significant amount among both post-menopausal women and breast cancer survivors.

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