Matt Shipman

Mar 3, 2011

Our Online Training Preferences, or Why Clippy Bombed

A new study finds that students in online training courses want to be taught by electronic versions of themselves. The study, by researchers from NC State and George Washington University, were interested in how student performance was affected by changes in the electronic tutorial “helpers” utilized in online training programs. It turns out that students do… 

Mar 2, 2011

Just Like Me: Online Training Helpers More Effective When They Resemble Students

Opposites don’t always attract. A study from North Carolina State University shows that participants are happier – and perform better – when the electronic helpers used in online training programs resemble the participants themselves. 

Mar 2, 2011

Food Safety: The Disconnect Between What’s Yucky And What’s Dangerous

Note: This is a guest piece written by Dr. Ben Chapman, an assistant professor and food safety expert at NC State. Among other things, Chapman is a regular contributor to the food safety blog Barfblog, where a version of this post originally ran. While it might be nice to know whether there has been an insect… 

Feb 28, 2011

Stretched Rubber Offers Simpler Method For Assembling Nanowires

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a cheap and easy method for assembling nanowires, controlling their alignment and density. The researchers hope the findings will foster additional research into a range of device applications using nanowires, from nanoelectronics to nanosensors, especially on unconventional substrates such as rubber, plastic and paper. 

Feb 24, 2011

Language Development Is Cyclical In Kids

Does it sometimes seem like your kids are suddenly speaking a totally different language? Well, you may be on to something. New research on language development in African-American children shows that kids go through cycles – going back and forth between standard English and vernacular English a couple of times before settling into an established… 

Feb 24, 2011

Language Patterns Are Roller-Coaster Ride During Childhood Development

Why, and when, do we learn to speak the way that we do? Research from North Carolina State University on African-American children presents an unexpected finding: language use can go on a roller-coaster ride during childhood as kids adopt and abandon vernacular language patterns. 

Feb 22, 2011

Liquid Metal Key to Simpler Creation of Electrodes for Microfluidic Devices

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a faster, easier way to create microelectrodes, for use in microfluidic devices, by using liquid metal. Microfluidic devices manipulate small amounts of fluid and have a wide variety of applications, from testing minute blood samples to performing advanced chemical research. 

Feb 18, 2011

Let’s Talk About ScienceOnline2012

The Abstract crew is pretty excited that NC State is going to host the ScienceOnline2012 (Scio12) conference next January. If you’re not familiar with ScienceOnline, it’s a gathering of researchers, bloggers, reporters, authors and students (I can think of some people who are all of the above) who are passionate about science. And they’re not just… 

Feb 16, 2011

Children Of Working Moms Face More Health Problems

Children of working mothers are significantly more likely to experience health problems, including asthma and accidents, than children of mothers who don’t work, according to new research from North Carolina State University. 

Feb 16, 2011

NC State Hosts Bullying Symposium

What: North Carolina State University is hosting a symposium, “Stand Up, Speak Out: Finding Opportunities to Protect Our Youth Against Bullying.” The symposium will include sessions on bullying prevention and intervention in schools; cyberbullying and professional ethics; implementing the anti-bullying law; and gender identity and sexual orientation issues facing youth. Who: Sponsored by NC State’s University… 

Feb 2, 2011

New Technique Boosts High-Power Potential For Gallium Nitride Electronics

Gallium nitride (GaN) material holds promise for emerging high-power devices that are more energy efficient than existing technologies – but these GaN devices traditionally break down when exposed to high voltages. Now researchers at North Carolina State University have solved the problem, introducing a buffer that allows the GaN devices to handle 10 times greater… 

Feb 1, 2011

Raw Power: Buffers Boost GaN Device Capacity

Gallium nitride (GaN) devices are supposed to be the next big thing in power electronics (think electric cars or smart grid). Or they would be, if they didn’t keep breaking when exposed to high voltages. New research may have solved that problem by implanting buffers made of argon that allow the devices to handle ten… 

Feb 1, 2011

NC State Expert Offers Insight Into Events In Egypt, Tunisia

Political unrest in Egypt, Yemen and Tunisia is not unlike a modern version of the American Revolution, according to North Carolina State University’s  Dr. Akram Khater. Khater’s expertise in Middle Eastern history can provide perspective to help us better understand what is taking place in the region. Khater is director of NC State’s Middle East Studies… 

Jan 31, 2011

New Hardware Boosts Communication Speed On Multi-Core Chips

Computer engineers at North Carolina State University have developed hardware that allows programs to operate more efficiently by significantly boosting the speed at which the “cores” on a computer chip communicate with each other. 

Jan 28, 2011

Data Leak Vulnerability Haunts Latest Android (Gingerbread)

A computer security researcher at NC State University, Xuxian Jiang, has identified a security vulnerability in the latest version of Google Android, version 2.3, also known as Gingerbread. The vulnerability gives attackers access to user data – similar to a vulnerability identified in previous iterations of Android, which Google thought it had fixed with the latest…