Mick Kulikowski

Oct 17, 2012

Sentiment Sleuths

In the age of Twitter, you don't have to wonder how people feel about the 2012 elections (or anything else). Twitter Viz, developed by NC State computer scientist Christopher Healey and his students, gives a more sophisticated view of all that opinion. 

Oct 12, 2012

Woodson on Death of Bill Friday

“Bill Friday was a transformational leader in public higher education,”  NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson said. “He was known as someone who always put others first. I, along with countless other leaders in higher education, benefited from his wise advice and counsel. Through his distinguished career, he modeled public service at its best, marked by integrity, courtesy,… 

Oct 9, 2012

$10 Million Gift Names NC State’s Poultry Science Department for Prestage Family

Chancellor Randy Woodson announced today a transformational $10 million gift that will name and endow a department in North Carolina State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The Department of Poultry Science will be renamed the Prestage Family Department of Poultry Science in honor of Bill and Marsha Prestage and their family, longtime supporters… 

Sep 27, 2012

New Fish Species Offers Literal Take on ‘Hooking Up’

Fishing hooks aren’t the only hooks found in east-central Mexican waters. A new species of freshwater fish described by a North Carolina State University researcher has several interesting – and perhaps cringe-inducing – characteristics, including a series of four hooks on the male genitalia. Females of the new species – the llanos mosquitofish, or Gambusia… 

Sep 24, 2012

Life in the Extreme: Uranium Toxicity Response Different in Nearly Genetically Identical Microorganisms

Life in extreme environments – hot acids and heavy metals, for example – can apparently make very similar organisms deal with stress in very different ways, according to new research from North Carolina State University. One single-celled organism from a hot spring near Mount Vesuvius in Italy fights uranium toxicity directly – by eating the… 

Sep 14, 2012

Are You Ready for Some Football Visualizations?

Like most fantasy football team general managers, I’m looking for every possible advantage, including checking out this year’s NFL games to figure out how the Baltimore Ravens defense performed against the Cincinnati Bengals or whether New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning can move the ball through the air against division rivals like the Dallas Cowboys.… 

Sep 12, 2012

NC State Earns High Marks for Quality and Affordability, Innovative Changes

Newly released rankings from U.S. News & World Report’s annual Best Colleges Edition give NC State high marks as a national best value – a measure that reflects academic quality and affordability – and point to NC State as an “up-and-comer” that has recently made the “most promising and innovative changes in the areas of academics, faculty,… 

Sep 10, 2012

Importance of Gene-Gene Interactions Shown in Study

Gaining more insight into predicting how genes affect physical or behavioral traits by charting the genotype-phenotype map holds promise to speed discoveries in personalized medicine. But figuring out exactly how genes interact has left parts of the map invisible. In a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, North Carolina State University… 

Sep 10, 2012

NC State Signs Innovative Research Agreement With Eastman Chemical Company

In a move signaling a new, innovative approach to multidisciplinary research with university partners, North Carolina State University has entered into a multiyear agreement with Eastman Chemical Company to conduct joint cutting-edge research in chemistry, materials science and other scientific disciplines. As part of the agreement, Eastman will provide $10 million over six years in… 

Sep 5, 2012

NC State to Lead NSF Nanosystems Engineering Research Center on Self-Powered Health Monitoring

North Carolina State University will lead a national nanotechnology research effort to create self-powered devices to help people monitor their health and understand how the surrounding environment affects it, the National Science Foundation announced today. The NSF Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technologies (ASSIST), to be headquartered on… 

Aug 30, 2012

Unexpected Finding Shows Climate Change Complexities in Soil

In a surprising finding, North Carolina State University researchers have shown that certain underground organisms thought to promote chemical interactions that make the soil a carbon sink actually play a more complex, dual role when atmospheric carbon levels rise. In a paper published in the Aug. 31 edition of Science, North Carolina State University researchers… 

Aug 24, 2012

Needle Ant Invasion Spreads Coast to Coast

A crusade to invade that began in North Carolina has spread to the Midwest, Pacific Northwest and even to an island packed with concrete and glass – Manhattan. So go the travels of the Asian needle ant, an invasive species native to Japan. Citizen scientists connected with the School of Ants project – which asks… 

Aug 14, 2012

Green Is Good

Editor’s note: The following guest post was written by Leah Chester-Davis, coordinator of communications and outreach for the Plants for Human Health Institute in Kannapolis, N.C. Bad news, Bluto: Mustard greens and cabbage could rival Popeye’s spinach when it comes to building muscles and increasing physical performance. Recent studies show that brassinosteroids present in mustard… 

Aug 3, 2012

Geological Changes Spurred Dino Diversity

New duck-billed and horned dinosaur species in western North America evolved at a blistering pace between 70 and 80 million years ago – blistering by evolutionary standards, of course, which means that new species appeared over spans of hundreds of thousands of years rather than millions of years. Later this species growth appears to weaken,… 

Aug 1, 2012

NC State Alum Fred Hartman Named Director of Public Relations

North Carolina State University alumnus Fred Hartman has been named the university’s director of public relations, overseeing media relations, internal and constituent communications at NC State. “We are thrilled to have a professional with such broad experience and a strong track record of success join the NC State team,” said Brad Bohlander, the university’s chief communications officer.…