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Matt Simpson

A dinosaur exhibit shows life-sized long-necked and flying dinosaur models against the blue sky of an atrium.

Mar 6, 2025

Soft-Tissue Samples Can Survive in Several Different Dinosaur Fossils

Recently published research provides further evidence for the preservation of soft tissues and structures through deep time regardless of the species, age or burial environment of the fossils in question. 

Not only is collecting material with cytology brushes far faster and easier than collecting eraser crumbs, but it also greatly reduces the risk of cross-contamination. If you’re testing an entire book with an eraser, for instance, you must ensure to get up all the crumbs from one page before starting another. “Otherwise, you risk mixing them together,” Stinson says. Plus, from a library’s perspective, using a brush can in some cases be even less invasive than using an eraser. Many manuscripts that have survived hundreds of years aren’t exactly clean. Erasers remove dirt or stains — and leave unsightly white spots. Stinson and his team’s collection technique does not.

Feb 17, 2025

Deciphering the Past with DNA from Parchment Pages

With help from colleagues in the College of Veterinary Medicine, an English professor is examining much more than just what’s written on medieval documents. 

A underwater photograph of a manta ray swimming in the ocean in French Polynesia.

Dec 13, 2024

The World’s Fastest Swimming Robot

Drawing inspiration from manta rays, NC State researchers have engineered a soft robot that can swim even faster than its record-breaking predecessor. 

An AI-generated image depicting the intricacies of nanotechnology with clear and spherical molecules.

Nov 13, 2024

Creating a Brand-new Class of Materials

NC State researchers have created a new class of materials called “glassy gels” that possess properties that could make them an alternative to certain plastics commonly used in today’s products. 

Someone holds an electric bandage that reflects the red light behind it.

Nov 5, 2024

Battery-Powered Bandages Could Become a Simpler and More Affordable Treatment for Chronic Wounds

An NC State professor has invented an electric bandage that could potentially treat chronic wounds more effectively — and affordably. 

An image of the interior of a car without a driver, and a center console mapping the traffic around it digitally.

Oct 16, 2024

New Technique Could Help Self-Driving Cars See Their Surroundings Better

Researchers developed a technique to help self-driving cars’ AI programs better map the spaces around them. 

An image of a structure made of plastic cubes connected by hinges and tiny motors.

Oct 9, 2024

Researchers Create Shape-Shifting ‘Transformer Bots’

Using 3D printing, the researchers engineered a cubed structure made of plastic that can transform into more than 1,000 configurations. 

The NC State Belltower at night with red lights streaking toward it.

Aug 29, 2024

Catalyzing Creative Concepts to Solve Commercial Challenges

NC State University research helps turn today’s ideas into tomorrow’s solutions. That’s core to our land-grant mission. The Chancellor’s Innovation Fund (CIF), a competitive internal seed fund, has proven to be a powerful way we support that mission.  Chancellor Randy Woodson established the CIF in 2010 to help more NC State research bridge the gap between public and private… 

An artistic rendering of a pair of dinosaurs walking through a cave toward a swamp.

Aug 26, 2024

Discovering Dinosaurs

Researchers teamed up with paleontologists at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences to find fossils belonging to a species of dinosaur that had never been discovered before. 

An AI-rendered image symbolizing a computational method called a digital twin.

Aug 20, 2024

Digital Twin Could Help Data Servers Better Predict User Needs

Researchers in the Department of Computer Science have developed a new method to help data servers more accurately predict users’ needs by leveraging a technique known as a digital twin. 

A flooded street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, which caused significant damage across the northeastern U.S. in 2021.

Aug 14, 2024

Using Machine Learning To Map Floods

A graduate student at the Center for Geospatial Analytics trained a machine-learning model to create maps that could help identify potentially flood-prone areas in urban settings. 

An F-14 jet fighter on an aircraft carrier deck beneath blue sky and clouds viewed from front.

Aug 5, 2024

Welding Metal Foam

At NC State, researchers are innovating how induction welding can be used to manufacture stronger and lighter aircraft wings or armor out of composite metal foam. 

Iridescent Silicon Microchip

Apr 24, 2024

CHIPS Funding Fuels Two New Initiatives Backed by NC State

With over $50 million through the CHIPS and Science Act, our university will lead a regional innovation hub focused on wide bandgap semiconductors, called CLAWS, and also play a key role in the North Carolina Textile Innovation and Sustainability Engine, one of the first-ever NSF Regional Innovation Engines. 

A portrait photograph of Nathan Crook taken in front of shelves with lab equipment.

Mar 29, 2024

Tiny Organisms, Transformative Outcomes

Nathan Crook, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, is discovering how Earth’s simplest life forms might unlock solutions to complex problems like antibiotic-resistant infections, plastic pollution and climate change. 

Scott Collins and Kathryn Poloff of Hoofprint Biome pose smiling in their lab coats.

Nov 21, 2023

Trusting Their Gut: NC State Spinout Company Knows Cows Hold the Key to Quickly Cooling the Climate

Hoofprint Biome, which recently closed a $4.25M pre-seed round of venture capital funding, was founded by two NC State Ph.D. grads with the mission to improve cattle’s gut health and, as a result, reduce methane — a major contributor to climate change.