Skip to main content

In the News

NC State news is shared far and wide. Below are just some of our recent appearances in local, regional, national and international media publications.

Jun 20, 2024 Popular Science

‘Glassy gels’ are a new class of strong, stretchy, sticky materials

Most people ditched hard, durable contact lenses years ago in favor of gel-based options for pretty understandable reasons—softer, liquid-infused gel polymers are far more comfortable, breathable alternatives than their glass predecessors. But after some recent lab experimentation, researchers at North Carolina State University have created a new material class combining some of the best properties… 

Jun 20, 2024 Morning Ag Clips

Do Bugs Burp?

“If you want to be a stickler, it’s important to define what a burp is,” says Aram Mikaelyan, a scientist at NC State University who studies digestion in insects. One dictionary definition of a burp (or belch) is “to force air from the stomach to come out through the mouth with a noise.” “This definition would… 

Jun 20, 2024 The Engineer

Glassy gels demonstrate strength and stretchability

“We’ve created a class of materials that we’ve termed glassy gels, which are as hard as glassy polymers, but – if you apply enough force – can stretch up to five times their original length, rather than breaking,” said Michael Dickey, corresponding author of the paper on the work and the Camille and Henry Dreyfus… 

Jun 20, 2024 TechExplorist

New class of materials is very hard and difficult to break

“We’ve created a class of materials that we’ve termed glassy gels, which are as hard as glassy polymers, but – if you apply enough force – can stretch up to five times their original length rather than breaking,” says Michael Dickey, corresponding author of a paper on the work and the Camille and Henry Dreyfus… 

Jun 19, 2024 Fast Company

Why Jeff Bezos’ climate fund just invested $30 million to build ‘sustainable protein’ in North Carolina

And yet, this is where the Bezos Earth Fund has chosen to launch its first “Center for Sustainable Protein.” The Jeff Bezos-backed philanthropic foundation announced recently that North Carolina State University in Raleigh will get $30 million over five years to create a bio-manufacturing hub that will research ways to make “alternative proteins” cheaper and… 

Jun 19, 2024 WRAL

Wake schools eyeing NC State, Shaw for new leadership academy partners

North Carolina State University and Shaw University have emerged as the top contenders to partner with the Wake school system’s two leadership academies. The chosen university would replace Saint Augustine’s University, which will no longer provide any classes to the academies’ students, for the 2025-26 school year. 

Jun 19, 2024 AP News

What’s a heat dome? Here’s why so much of the US is broiling this week

It’s helpful to think of a heat dome as what’s happening in the atmosphere. A heat wave is how that affects people on the ground, said Ken Kunkel, a research professor of atmospheric sciences at North Carolina State University. 

Jun 19, 2024 CBS17

NC State, Starbucks team up for new mug, tumblers

Starbucks cup collectors now have a new item to hunt down. North Carolina State University and Starbucks have teamed up to bring fans a new tumbler and mug. NC State announced they are now among only 30 universities included in Starbucks’ “Been There Series” Campus Collection of officially licensed coffee mugs. They, along with the new… 

Jun 18, 2024 Totally Vegan Buzz

Jeff Bezos Pledges $100 Million To Plant Based And Alternative Meat Research

The initiative allocates $30 million to North Carolina State University (NCSU), tasked with establishing a research hub dedicated to advancing alternative protein technologies. The $30 million commitment to NCSU will be spread over five years and will fund research into plant-based proteins, fermentation methods that produce protein nutrients, and cultivated meat grown from animal cells.… 

Jun 18, 2024 Medscape

Cat Scratch Fever Pathogen Linked to Increased Psychosis Risk

“Bartonella may be one of several pathogens that can induce neuroinflammation and neuropsychiatric symptoms,” study investigator Edward Breitschwerdt, DVM, professor of medicine and infectious diseases at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine in Raleigh, North Carolina, told Medscape Medical News. 

Jun 18, 2024 Trade Only

NOAA Forecasts Larger Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting an above-average “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico this summer covering approximately 5,827 square miles. This is the seventh year NOAA has made a dead-zone forecast using models developed by the agency and researchers at the University of Michigan, Louisiana State University, William & Mary’s Virginia… 

Jun 18, 2024 Popular Mechanics

Scientists Squeezed Infrared Light Down to 10% of Its Wavelength. That’s Simply Incredible.

Scientists from North Carolina State University successfully “squeezed” infrared light to 10 percent of its wavelength while maintaining its frequency. This breakthrough was achieved using a thin membrane of strontium titanate and the phono polaritons it produced after using synchrotron near-field spectroscopy. This thin film could lead to a variety of new infrared imaging devices… 

Jun 17, 2024 New Food Magazine

Researchers use plants to enhance baby formula nutrition

In their study, Shih and Barnum collaborated with Minliang Yang at North Carolina State University to estimate the cost of producing human milk oligosaccharides from plants on an industrial scale. They found that it would likely be more cost-effective than using microbial platforms. 

Jun 17, 2024 The News & Observer

Massive, flying yellow spiders are back in NC. But are they dangerous? What to know

Giant spiders falling from the sky sounds like a scene from a horror movie, but it’s happening in real life. Sort of. Joro spiders, which are native to Asia, have arrived in North Carolina early this year, according to Kelly Oten, an NC State Extension specialist for forest health. “They are typically considered a summer spider… 

Jun 17, 2024 Interesting Engineering

AI improves human locomotion in robotic exoskeletons, saves 25% energy

Researchers from North Carolina State University, in their new study, showed the technologically advanced instrument as an achievement in reinforcement learning, a technique that trains software to make decisions.