Tracey Peake

Apr 13, 2015

NC State Experts Can Discuss H5N2 Threat

NC State experts can discuss H5N2 poultry threat. 

Mar 18, 2015

Crocodile Ancestor Was Top Predator Before Dinosaurs Roamed North America

Carnufex carolinensis, or the “Carolina Butcher,” was a 9-foot long, land-dwelling crocodylomorph that stalked North Carolina before dinosaurs arrived on the continent. 

Mar 6, 2015

Nothing Fishy About This Surgery

Veterinary surgeons from North Carolina State University have successfully removed a cataract from a sunfish’s eye, utilizing the same surgical techniques that your local ophthalmologist would use on your grandparents. 

Jan 6, 2015

Dog Paralysis Study Shows Need for Customized Treatments

A clinical trial from North Carolina State University involving paraplegic dogs has demonstrated that a one-size fits all approach is not ideal for treating spinal cord injuries. Instead, the study highlights the fact that the population of canine paraplegics - even those with the same type of injury - is very diverse, and that courses of treatment should be equally so. 

Nov 24, 2014

Environmental ‘Tipping Points’ Key to Predicting Extinctions

Depending on a population’s adaptive strategy, even tiny changes in climate variability can create a “tipping point” that sends the population into extinction. 

Nov 10, 2014

The Ecology of Religious Beliefs

If environment can affect the behavior of animals living in certain areas, then it’s not too far-fetched to imagine it has an impact on human beings as well. Cultures around the world have adapted their lifestyles to the environments in which they live. But does this environmental influence extend beyond just survival techniques to the… 

Nov 10, 2014

New Materials Yield Record Efficiency Polymer Solar Cells

NC State researchers have found that temperature-controlled aggregation in a family of new semi-conducting polymers is the key to creating highly efficient organic solar cells that can be mass produced more cheaply. 

Oct 29, 2014

Harnessing Crowds to Analyze Clouds

Citizen scientists are helping to categorize 30 years' worth of tropical hurricane and cyclone data. 

Oct 2, 2014

Cheetahs Never Prosper: Energy Expenditure Linked to Population Decline

Cheetahs have a killer commute when traveling to find food. Habitat loss and human involvement, rather than high-speed hunting tactics, appear to be the culprits behind dwindling wild cheetah populations. 

Sep 11, 2014

New Nanomedicine Improves Stem Cell Therapy

A new nanoparticle may help heart attack patients regenerate healthy heart tissue without using donated or processed stem cells. 

Jul 15, 2014

Cretaceous Cold Case No. 5: When Evidence Dries Up

This is the fifth post in a series called “Cretaceous Cold Cases” in which the science of taphonomy, or prehistoric forensics, is explained by fascinating cases from the files of Terry “Bucky” Gates, a research scientist with NC State and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. South Africa, 250 million years ago. The United States,145… 

Jul 3, 2014

NC State Experts Can Discuss Hurricane, Disaster Issues

As hurricane Arthur moves up the coast this weekend, media looking for information on a variety of hurricane topics can contact the following North Carolina State University experts: Storm Surge and Flood Prediction Marine meteorologist Dr. Lian Xie can discuss research on hurricane formation. Specifically, Xie can talk about hurricane climatology and seasonal prediction; storm… 

Jun 4, 2014

How a Protein “Cancer Cop” Targets UV Damage in DNA

Ah, summer. People are outside enjoying the warm weather, swimming, playing, or just soaking up that glorious, skin-damaging, high-energy UV radiation from the sun. We know that prolonged sun exposure damages skin – the sun is a nuclear reactor, after all. But how does our body respond to and repair this damage at the DNA… 

May 29, 2014

Neural Transplant Reduces Absence Epilepsy Seizures in Mice

New research from North Carolina State University pinpoints the areas of the cerebral cortex that are affected in mice with absence epilepsy and shows that transplanting embryonic neural cells into these areas can alleviate symptoms of the disease by reducing seizure activity. The work may help identify the areas of the human brain affected in… 

May 8, 2014

This Is What Science Looks Like at NC State: Alison Moyer

Editor’s note: This post comes from Alison Moyer, a Ph.D. student in paleontology at NC State. The post is part of an ongoing series that we hope will highlight the diversity of researchers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The series is inspired by the This Is What A Scientist Looks Like site. I’m Alison Moyer,…