The Abstract

Feb 22, 2013

NC State Research Helps Shape Yellowstone ‘Winter Use’ Plan

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Dr. Chris Frey, distinguished university professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering. Frey is also chair of the EPA Science Advisory Board’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee. On February 22, the National Park Service released a plan to guide winter use of over snow vehicles (OSVs), including snowmobiles and…

Feb 12, 2013

The Big Picture: Helping Companies Make Products We Actually Want

Researchers have developed a model that will, hopefully, help companies develop innovative products that people actually want to use. The model is a first step towards capturing the behavior of both companies and consumers, so that we end up with more iPods and fewer Edsels. This concept may sound obvious, but companies have difficulty grasping…

Jan 7, 2013

Drawing on Real Life

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Jennifer Landin, a teaching assistant professor of biology at NC State who teaches a course on biological illustration. Check out why she thinks biological illustration is valuable – and some of the art created in her classroom. While other universities have biological illustration courses, as far as I…

Dec 19, 2012

Trivial Pursuits: The Abstract’s 2012 Quiz

The Abstract staff will be taking off for a couple of weeks to prepare for 2012. In an attempt to amuse and entertain ourselves you, we’ve pulled together a quick quiz on some of the research we’ve written about over the past year. See how you do! QUESTIONS 1). Peanut butter can be healthier if…

Dec 17, 2012

Engineers’ Neutrino Communications Named a Top 10 Physics Breakthrough

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post that first ran on the website of NC State’s College of Engineering. Research that produced the world’s first message sent using tiny neutrino particles — a project led in part by NC State engineers — has been named one of Physics World magazine’s top 10 breakthroughs for 2012. Earlier this…

Dec 11, 2012

5 Questions With Canopy Meg

Meg Lowman is the director of the Nature Research Center at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences and a research professor at NC State. She has conquered the canopy of the rainforest, and opened up an entirely new world to scientific discovery. She’s just published a textbook that will help future generations of canopy scientists get…

Dec 10, 2012

Innovation to Save Lives: A Student’s Story, Part II

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by NC State grad student Tate Rogers. Rogers came up with an idea to address the life-threatening challenge of human waste disposal in the developing world, and was part of a team that received funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to pursue the idea further. Rogers presented…

Dec 6, 2012

Looking back at the Science of Santa’s Workshop

Two years ago, a team of researchers from NC State participated in a visiting scholars program at Santa’s Workshop-North Pole Labs (NPL). They learned a lot, and shared their findings with us in a series of posts from that frostbitten font of seasonal science. Santa’s annual moment in the spotlight is coming up fast, so we…

Nov 27, 2012

Unintended Benefits of Interdisciplinary Efforts: Ideas From Kavli Frontiers of Science

Editor’s Note: this is a guest post by Andrew Binder, an assistant professor of communication at NC State who specializes in science communication and how citizens perceive science issues. Binder attended the Kavli Frontiers of Science symposium earlier this month, and writes about some of the conclusions he drew from the event. Institutions of higher education,…

Nov 26, 2012

Size Matters When Reducing NiO Nanoparticles

New research finds that size plays a major role in how nanoscale nickel oxide (NiO) shells behave when being reduced to solid nickel nanoparticles. “This advances our fundamental understanding of how the structures of nanoparticles can be changed through chemical reactions, which has potential applications in nanofabrication and catalysis,” says Joe Tracy, a materials scientist…

Nov 12, 2012

Pet Rehab: Goat on a Treadmill

It’s not an uncommon story: A family pet comes down with a serious illness. The pet’s owners pursue treatment and rehabilitation, the pet improves and everyone gets a happy ending. Except in this case the pet is a goat, and the rehabilitation is being done – in part – on an underwater treadmill normally used…

Nov 5, 2012

Vote for This! ‘Self-Folding Origami’ is Finalist in SciVis Contest

I think there’s something amazing about watching a two-dimensional (2-D) sheet of plastic fold itself up into a three-dimensional (3-D) object. The National Science Foundation (NSF) and Science apparently agree, having selected a video (see above) about this self-folding materials research as a finalist in the International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge (SciVis). Why would…

Nov 2, 2012

Researchers ID ‘Smishing’ Vulnerability in Android

Mobile security researchers have identified a new vulnerability in popular Android platforms, including Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean. The vulnerability has been confirmed by Google, and will be addressed in a future Android release. Specifically, Xuxian Jiang’s research team at NC State has identified an SMS-phishing (“smishing”) vulnerability. If an Android user downloads an…

Oct 31, 2012

In the Footsteps of Indiana Jones: A New Archaeological Excavation at Petra

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Dr. Tom Parker, a professor of history at NC State. Parker has served on archaeological expeditions in the Middle East for more than 30 years. Since 1994, Parker has been director of the Roman Aqaba Project, overseeing archaeological research on the Roman frontier in Jordan. A blog about…

Oct 29, 2012

In Particulate Matter, the Particulars Matter

When statisticians start talking about PM, they aren’t referring to political leadership. PM stands for particulate matter, and it’s important because it has a direct effect on the health and well-being of anyone who breathes. Statistician Montserrat Fuentes has built a career on looking at the effects of PM 2.5 (the 2.5 means that the…