Mick Kulikowski

Mar 17, 2009

Grand Prizes Induce Sports ‘Hot Streaks’

Dangling a lucrative financial carrot at the end of a professional sport season can cause certain players to exert the effort necessary to put together a string of successful performances, sometimes known in sporting circles as a “hot hand” or “hot streak.” That’s the result of a forthcoming study by North Carolina State University economists… 

Feb 23, 2009

NC State Study Finds Genes Important to Sleep

For many animals, sleep is a risk: foraging for food, mingling with mates and guarding against predators just aren’t possible while snoozing. How, then, has this seemingly life-threatening behavior remained constant among various species of animals? A new study by scientists at North Carolina State University shows that the fruit fly is genetically wired to… 

Feb 16, 2009

Good Bacteria Can Be ‘EZ Pass’ for Oral Vaccine Against Anthrax

Researchers at North Carolina State University have discovered that the good bacteria found in dairy products and linked to positive health benefits in the human body might also be an effective vehicle for an oral vaccine that can provide immunity to anthrax exposure. The approach could possibly be used to deliver any number of specific… 

Feb 1, 2009

Glues to Fuels: NC State, Partners Get Grant to Make Low-Cost Fuels from Forest Biomass

Create liquid fuels out of biomass products like wood waste and sawdust. Prove that this biofuels production technology can be performed on a larger scale than just the lab bench. And then show that the process is cheaper than coaxing ethanol from crops like corn. 

Jan 21, 2009

Former President Bill Clinton to Speak at NC State’s Millennium Seminar

Former President Bill Clinton will speak at North Carolina State University’s Millennium Seminar Series on Monday, Jan. 26, at 10:30 a.m. in Reynolds Coliseum. Media coverage by accredited reporters is invited. Those wishing to cover the event should RSVP to NC State News Services at 919/515-8387 by 5 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 22. Reporters covering the… 

Dec 4, 2008

Scientists Show Which Plants Benefit Most From Landscape Corridors

Research by a North Carolina State University biologist and colleagues takes a giant step toward showing which kinds of plants benefit from a dominant feature of land conservation plans – landscape corridors, or the thin strips of land that connect isolated patches of habitat. 

Nov 21, 2008

Scientists Present ‘Moving’ Theory Behind Bacterial Decision-Making

Biochemists at North Carolina State University have answered a fundamental question of how important bacterial proteins make life-and-death decisions that allow them to function, a finding that could provide a new target for drugs to disrupt bacterial decision-making processes and related diseases. In a study published this month in the journal Structure, the NC State scientists… 

Nov 13, 2008

NC State Celebrates Human Rights

North Carolina State University joins the international community in celebrating the 60th anniversary of the United Nations’ adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This document provides the model and lays the foundation for international treaties, national constitutions, and laws in countries around the world guaranteeing human rights, such as the right to life,… 

Oct 30, 2008

NC State, NC A&T Officials Announce Historic $3 Million Endowment

University of North Carolina President Erskine Bowles, North Carolina State University Chancellor James L. Oblinger and North Carolina A&T State University Chancellor Stanley F. Battle will announce a $3.15 million endowment from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in support of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) efforts to a build a sustainable, community-based food economy… 

Sep 22, 2008

NC State Researchers Get to Root of Nematode Genome

North Carolina State University scientists and colleagues have completed the genome sequence and genetic map of one of the world’s most common and destructive plant parasites – Meloidogyne hapla, a microscopic, soil-dwelling worm known more commonly as the northern root-knot nematode. 

Sep 16, 2008

NC State Engineers Discover Nanoparticles Can Break On Through

In a finding that could speed the use of sensors or barcodes at the nanoscale, North Carolina State University engineers have shown that certain types of tiny organic particles, when heated to the proper temperature, bob to the surface of a layer of a thin polymer film and then can reversibly recede below the surface… 

Aug 25, 2008

NC State, Wake Tech Partnership Will Boost Higher Education Access, Affordability

In a move designed to make higher education more accessible and affordable, North Carolina State University and Wake Technical Community College announced today a new partnership that will allow Wake Tech students who want to obtain a bachelor’s degree to move seamlessly into an undergraduate degree path at NC State. 

Aug 21, 2008

Trees Into Fuel: NC State Garners USDA Rural Development Grant to Study Wood as an Alternative Feedstock

A new three-year, nearly $1 million Rural Development Biomass Research and Development Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will allow North Carolina State University scientists to test the efficacy of growing genetically modified trees across North Carolina and using them to produce ethanol inexpensively. 

Aug 20, 2008

NC State Garners Alternative Fuels Grant from USDA

North Carolina State University will host U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole and a representative from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to announce a new three-year, nearly $1 million grant to study the feasibility of growing genetically modified trees in North Carolina and using them to produce ethanol inexpensively. 

Jul 30, 2008

NC State Engineer Taps Heat-Loving Bacteria for Hydrogen

A North Carolina State University engineer has been awarded a $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to learn more about the microbiology, genetics and genomics behind how and why heat-loving bacteria called thermotogales produce large amounts of hydrogen with unusually high efficiencies. These microorganisms are found all over the globe in areas…