Matt Shipman

Mar 20, 2012

NSA Science of Security ‘Lablet’ Established at NC State

North Carolina State University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Carnegie Mellon University are each receiving an initial $2.5 million in grant funds from the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) to stimulate the creation of a more scientific basis for the design and analysis of trusted systems. 

Mar 19, 2012

Study: Including Ads in Mobile Apps Poses Privacy, Security Risks

Researchers from North Carolina State University have found that including ads in mobile applications (apps) poses privacy and security risks. In a recent study of 100,000 apps in the official Google Play market, researchers noticed that more than half contained so-called ad libraries. And 297 of the apps included aggressive ad libraries that were enabled… 

Mar 12, 2012

Local and Mobile

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Adriana de Souza e Silva, associate professor of communication in NC State’s Department of Communication, who is chairing an international conference, Local and Mobile, for researchers and students of mobility studies. We no longer enter the Internet. Instead, we carry it with us. We experience it as we… 

Mar 8, 2012

Getting Organized To Fight Wildfires

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Lauren Williams, a communication intern in NC State’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Think fighting wildfires is just a job for forest rangers armed with water? Think again. Research in communication practices is improving the ways in which wildfires are handled. On the front lines of this… 

Mar 7, 2012

Functional Oxide Thin Films Create New Field Of Oxide Electronics

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed the first functional oxide thin films that can be used efficiently in electronics, opening the door to an array of new high-power devices and smart sensors. This is the first time that researchers have been able to produce positively charged (p-type) conduction and negatively charged (n-type) conduction… 

Mar 6, 2012

Dealing With Trauma And Its Aftermath

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Karen Bullock, associate department head in NC State’s Department of Social Work, which is hosting a symposium on trauma for social workers and those in related fields. At a time when many families are adjusting to soldiers returning from combat, significant job layoffs, foreclosures on home mortgages, high… 

Mar 6, 2012

New Method For Estimating Parameters May Boost Biological Models

Modeling biological systems can provide key insights for scientists and medical researchers, but periodic cycles that repeat themselves – so-called oscillatory systems – pose some key challenges. Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a new method for estimating the parameters used in such models – which may advance modeling in research areas ranging… 

Mar 1, 2012

Food History Q&A, with Mark Kurlansky

Editor’s Note: Mark Kurlansky is the best-selling author of “Cod,” “Salt,” “The Big Oyster” and other books focused on the story (and history) of food. He is the winner of the James Beard Award for food writing and the Bon Appetit Food Writer of the Year, among other awards. Kurlansky is the keynote speaker at… 

Feb 29, 2012

Foot Bones Allow Researchers To Determine Sex of Skeletal Remains

Law enforcement officials who are tasked with identifying a body based on partial skeletal remains have a new tool at their disposal. A new paper from North Carolina State University researchers details how to determine the biological sex of skeletal remains based solely on measurements of the seven tarsal bones in the feet. 

Feb 28, 2012

Study Shows How The Brain Responds To Deceptive Advertising

Several specific regions of our brains are activated in a two-part process when we are exposed to deceptive advertising, according to new research conducted by a North Carolina State University professor. The work opens the door to further research that could help us understand how brain injury and aging may affect our susceptibility to fraud… 

Feb 23, 2012

Project Aims To Improve HIV/AIDS Prevention Materials For African-American Women

African-American women make up a disproportionate number of HIV/AIDS cases in the United States. Researchers from North Carolina State University are trying to change that, leading a National Science Foundation project aimed at developing HIV/AIDS prevention materials that resonate with African-American female college students. 

Feb 22, 2012

World of Warcraft Boosts Cognitive Functioning In Some Older Adults

For some older adults, the online video game World of Warcraft (WoW) may provide more than just an opportunity for escapist adventure. Researchers from North Carolina State University have found that playing WoW actually boosted cognitive functioning for older adults – particularly those adults who had scored poorly on cognitive ability tests before playing the… 

Feb 15, 2012

Toyota Recalls Made No Dent On Their Brand

A study from North Carolina State University shows that Toyota’s safety-related recalls that began in 2009 made little to no impact on how consumers perceived the brand. 

Feb 13, 2012

In Older Adults, Fluctuating Sense Of Control Linked To Cognitive Ability

Everyone has moments when they feel more in control of their lives than at other times. New research from North Carolina State University shows that this sense of control fluctuates more often, and more quickly, than previously thought – and that this sense of control may actively affect cognitive abilities. 

Feb 7, 2012

The Science Of A Good Pour

I love writing about science. I also enjoy a good beer. I’ve decided to marry these two interests and write a series of posts about the science of beer. It’s not much of a stretch, since brewing is an intensely scientific art. I requested, and received, a lot of questions about the science of beer.…