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Strawberry Fields Forever

By Guest PostApril 19, 2014Environmentandreas holzinger, callose, chemicals, flexibilitaet, high ringxiety, horticulture, luciano beheregaray, north Carolina, notifications, pests, phantom cell rings, polysaccharid, soil health, ueberlebensmechanismus

North Carolina is the nation’s No. 3 strawberry producer, but many of the state’s berries grow on small plots lacking the acreage to carry out sustainable growing practices like crop rotation. That, combined with constant concerns about soil pathogens and reliance on chemicals to rid plants of ubiquitous pests like spider mites, puts immense pressure on these farms’ long-term health.

Can North Carolina withstand this pressure and keep its top-three status behind fruit and veggie behemoths California and Florida, the top two U.S. strawberry producers? (more…)

Researchers Grow Carbon Nanofibers Using Ambient Air, Without Toxic Ammonia

By Guest PostApril 13, 2014Scienceanatoli melechko, carbon atoms, carbon nanofibers, gould belt, herve bouy, hipparcos, joao alves, joseph tracy, north Carolina, state university

Researchers from North Carolina State University have demonstrated that vertically aligned carbon nanofibers (VACNFs) can be manufactured using ambient air, making the manufacturing process safer and less expensive. VACNFs hold promise for use in gene-delivery tools, sensors, batteries and other technologies.

Conventional techniques for creating VACNFs rely on the use of ammonia gas, which is toxic. And while ammonia gas is not expensive, it’s not free. (more…)

Researchers Describe Oxygen’s Different Shapes

By Guest PostApril 1, 2014Scienceaha moment, allan la, carbon 12, dario sanches, dean lee, evgeny epelbaum, helium 4 nuclei, hermann krebs, hour of code, north Carolina, oxygen, oxygen 16, state university, timo laehde

Oxygen-16, one of the key elements of life on earth, is produced by a series of reactions inside of red giant stars. Now a team of physicists, including one from North Carolina State University, has revealed how the element’s nuclear shape changes depending on its state, even though other attributes such as spin and parity don’t appear to differ. Their findings may shed light on how oxygen is produced.

Carbon and oxygen are formed when helium burns inside of red giant stars. Carbon-12 forms when three helium-4 nuclei combine in a very specific way (called the triple alpha process), and oxygen-16 is the combination of a carbon-12 and another helium-4 nucleus. (more…)

Bucking Conventional Wisdom, Researchers Find Black Sea Bass Tougher Than Expected

By Guest PostMarch 28, 2014Natureatlantic coast, business decision making, cognitive environments, john kelly, north Carolina, ozonschicht, rensselaer, shirley ann jackson, sonnenschutz, state university, survival rate, uv strahlen

In a new study, fisheries researchers from North Carolina State University found that black sea bass (Centropristis striata) can usually survive the physical trauma that results from being hauled up from deep water then released at the surface. The finding is part of a larger study of the fish’s mortality rate, which will inform stock assessments designed to help ensure that the black sea bass fishery is sustainable.

Black sea bass are bottom-dwelling fish, and are often caught at depths of greater than 60 feet. When the fish are brought to the surface, the rapid change in pressure causes the fish’s swim bladder to expand. This forces other organs out of the way and can result in visible “barotrauma” – such as the fish’s stomach being forced partially out of its mouth. (more…)

New Technique Targets C Code to Spot, Contain Malware Attacks

By Guest PostMarch 7, 2014Technologyandroid application, android devices, c code, c programming language, daniel dean, false positives, google play, helen gu, malware attacks, new technique, north Carolina, prec, security tool, smartphone, state university, tsung hsuan ho, will enck, written in java

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new tool to detect and contain malware that attempts root exploits in Android devices. The tool improves on previous techniques by targeting code written in the C programming language – which is often used to create root exploit malware, whereas the bulk of Android applications are written in Java.

Root exploits take over the system administration functions of an operating system, such as Android. A successful Android root exploit effectively gives hackers unfettered control of a user’s smartphone. (more…)

Silver Nanowire Sensors Hold Promise for Prosthetics, Robotics

By Guest PostJanuary 23, 2014Sciencecapacitance, curvilinear surface, elastic conductor, monitor thumb movement, north Carolina, physical deformation, prosthetics, prototype application, robotics, shanshan yao, silver nanowire sensors, smartphone touch screen, state university, Technology, variety, yong zhu

North Carolina State University researchers have used silver nanowires to develop wearable, multifunctional sensors that could be used in biomedical, military or athletic applications, including new prosthetics, robotic systems and flexible touch panels. The sensors can measure strain, pressure, human touch and bioelectronic signals such as electrocardiograms.

“The technology is based on either physical deformation or “fringing” electric field changes. The latter is very similar to the mechanism used in smartphone touch screens, but the sensors we’ve developed are stretchable and can be mounted on a variety of curvilinear surfaces such as human skin,” says Shanshan Yao, a Ph.D. student at NC State and lead author of a paper on the work. (more…)

New, Simple Technique May Drive Down Biofuel Production Costs

By Guest PostJanuary 12, 2014Environmentacetic acid, acid, amines, biofuel, biofuel production costs, biomass, black powder, energy rich cellulose, ezinne achinivu, lignin, liquid salts, non edible, north Carolina, pils, plant cell walls, plant material, protic ionic liquids, reagan howard, state university, technique, vinegar, wesley henderson

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a simple, effective and relatively inexpensive technique for removing lignin from the plant material used to make biofuels, which may drive down the cost of biofuel production.

Lignin, nature’s way of protecting plant cell walls, is difficult to break down or remove from plant materials called “biomass,” such as the non-edible parts of the corn plant. However, that lignin needs to be extracted in order to reach the energy-rich cellulose that is used to make biofuels. (more…)

New Technique Targets Specific Areas of Cancer Cells with Different Drugs

By Guest PostJanuary 8, 2014Healthadriano bellotti, cancer cell, chapel hill, conventional treatment techniques, dox, doxorubicin, drugs, enzymes, jianping zhou, large scale manufacturing, nanoparticle, new technique, north Carolina, nucleus, programmed strategy, ran mo, specific area, state university, target, tianyue jiang, zhen gu

Researchers have developed a technique for creating nanoparticles that carry two different cancer-killing drugs into the body and deliver those drugs to separate parts of the cancer cell where they will be most effective. The technique was developed by researchers at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“In testing on laboratory mice, our technique resulted in significant improvement in breast cancer tumor reduction as compared to conventional treatment techniques,” says Dr. Zhen Gu, senior author of a paper on the research and an assistant professor in the joint biomedical engineering program at NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill. (more…)

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