research news

Feb 5, 2013

Flexible Classroom Design Saves Money, Improves Flexibility, Accessibility of Instruction

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a classroom design that gives instructors increased flexibility in how to teach their courses and improves accessibility for students, while  slashing administrative costs. 

Jan 31, 2013

Researchers Find Evidence of Geological ‘Facelift’ in the Appalachians

How does a mountain range maintain its youthful, rugged appearance after 200 million years without tectonic activity? Try a geological facelift – courtesy of the earth’s mantle. Researchers from North Carolina State University noticed that a portion of the Appalachian Mountains in western North Carolina near the Cullasaja River basin was topographically quite different from… 

Jan 23, 2013

Researchers Create Self-Healing, Stretchable Wires Using Liquid Metal

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed elastic, self-healing wires in which both the liquid-metal core and the polymer sheath reconnect at the molecular level after being severed. 

Jan 15, 2013

Researchers Create Flexible, Nanoscale ‘Bed of Nails’ for Possible Drug Delivery

Researchers at North Carolina State University have come up with a technique to embed needle-like carbon nanofibers in an elastic membrane, creating a flexible “bed of nails” on the nanoscale that opens the door to development of new drug-delivery systems. 

Dec 19, 2012

‘Gold Standard’ Cotton Genome Sequenced

An international consortium with representatives from most of the world’s major cotton-producing countries, led by Regents Professor Andrew Paterson of the University of Georgia and including Candace Haigler, a North Carolina State University professor of crop science and plant biology, has described the first ‘gold-standard’ genome sequence for cotton. Published today in Nature, this is… 

Dec 18, 2012

Researchers Use Liquid Metal to Create Wires That Stretch Eight Times Their Original Length

Researchers from North Carolina State University have created conductive wires that can be stretched up to eight times their original length while still functioning. The wires can be used for everything from headphones to phone chargers, and hold potential for use in electronic textiles. To make the wires, researchers start with a thin tube made… 

Dec 13, 2012

NC State Study Offers Insight Into Converting Wood to Bio-Oil

New research from North Carolina State University provides molecular-level insights into how cellulose – the most common organic compound on Earth and the main structural component of plant cell walls – breaks down in wood to create “bio-oils” which can be refined into any number of useful products, including liquid transportation fuels to power a… 

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

Researchers Reveal Structure of Carbon’s ‘Hoyle State’

A North Carolina State University researcher has taken a “snapshot” of the way particles combine to form carbon-12, the element that makes all life on Earth possible.  And the picture looks like a bent arm. Carbon-12 can only exist when three alpha particles, or helium-4 nuclei, combine in a very specific way. This combination is… 

Dec 6, 2012

Researchers Craft Tool to Minimize Threat of Endocrine Disruptors in New Chemicals

Researchers from North Carolina State University, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and a host of other institutions have developed a safety testing system to help chemists design inherently safer chemicals and processes. 

Dec 4, 2012

Study: Parents Key to Preventing Alcohol, Marijuana Use by Kids

New research from North Carolina State University, Brigham Young University and the Pennsylvania State University finds that parental involvement is more important than the school environment when it comes to preventing or limiting alcohol and marijuana use by children. 

Nov 30, 2012

Making Sports Rankings Count

Ever wondered how those sports team rankings get done? Dr. Carl Meyer is a mathematician working on making those rankings more accurate. This video from Inside Science explains how it’s done. Hint: linear algebra is involved. 

Nov 28, 2012

Researchers ID Ways to Exploit ‘Cloud Browsers’ for Large-Scale, Anonymous Computing

Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of Oregon have found a way to exploit cloud-based Web browsers, using them to perform large-scale computing tasks anonymously. The finding has potential ramifications for the security of “cloud browser” services. 

Nov 14, 2012

Researchers Find Way to Boost WiFi Performance 400-700 Percent

As many WiFi users know, WiFi performance is often poor in areas where there are a lot of users, such as airports or coffee shops. But researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a new software program, called WiFox, which can be incorporated into existing networks and expedites data traffic in large audience WiFi… 

Nov 8, 2012

NC State Launches Work on More Efficient Computers Using 3DIC Technology

North Carolina State University researchers are launching an initiative to develop a computer that utilizes three-dimensional integrated chip (3DIC) technology and is significantly more energy efficient than anything else on the market today. The work is supported by $1 million in funding as Phase 1 of a negotiated $4 million cooperative agreement contract with the…