Nate DeGraff

Aug 7, 2019

Scientists Link Europe Heat Wave to Man-Made Global Warming

Chicago Tribune
The U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2016 studied this new scientific method of climate attribution and pronounced it valid. Kathie Dello, a climate scientist from NC State University in North Carolina, said the study helps to pin the blame for the heat wave on climate change. “If searching for a culprit for the intensity of these recent European heatwaves, climate change is the obvious culprit,” Dello said in an email.

Aug 2, 2019

Sulfonated Polymer Kills Drug-Resistant Microbes in Minutes

Chemistry World
After recent outbreaks of superbugs like MRSA, antimicrobial coatings have gained increasing attention as a potential way to sterilise surfaces and stop the transmission of pathogens. A team of researchers, led by Richard Spontak and Reza Ghiladi at North Carolina State University, has now discovered that Nexar, a polymer used for water treatment and high performance breathable clothing, could act as an antimicrobial surface.

Aug 1, 2019

NC State Chemist Earns $1.5 Million Research Grant to Study Next-Generation Quantum Systems

A team led by David Shulz has earned a major grant from the Department of Energy for research that has potential impacts on computing, networking and sensing.

Aug 1, 2019

Scientists Seek Materials That Defy Friction at the Atomic Level

Science NewsIn the quest to tweak materials to adjust friction, scientists have been making steady progress, but it’s not so easy to draw direct connections between the physics of big and small. In her lab at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, Krim says she can adjust atomic properties of materials and study what happens. But in general, the two worlds are separated by a tough-to-penetrate forest. “There are some foot trails that have connected up,” she says. But “there is still some bushwhacking” to do.

Jul 31, 2019

Undiscovered Dinosaurs: We Are Entering the Golden Era of Fossil Finds

New Scientist
“The pace of dinosaur discovery is so fast these days, one could label it frantic,” says palaeontologist Lindsay Zanno of North Carolina State University. And it shows no sign of letting up just yet. It seems we are entering the golden era of dinosaur discovery.

Jul 18, 2019

Biologist Patisaul Named Associate Dean for Research

Heather Patisaul, a decorated biologist and an expert on how environmental chemicals affect our health, has been named the new associate dean for research in NC State’s College of Sciences.

Jul 16, 2019

50 Years Later: NC State Alumni Reflect on Their Role in Launching the Apollo 11 Mission

WNCN
“Apollo 11 really changed our understanding of our place in the universe,” said NC State professor Paul Byrne. The Apollo 11 mission shaped his field of study as a planetary geologist, but it did much more than that. “It gets people dreaming about what might be possible when a whole nation gets together behind one goal supports it and sees it through,” he said.

Jul 15, 2019

Geologist Owen Named Head of MEAS Department

Lewis Owen, a prominent geologist at the University of Cincinnati, has been named head of the Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences.

Jul 8, 2019

A Scientist Who Found Her Faith In Physics: Meet Katie Mack, AKA AstroKatie

WUNC
NC State physicist Katie Mack, well-known on Twitter as @AstroKatie, discussed black holes, dark matter and whether aliens exist on The State of Things.

Jul 8, 2019

Ground Beetle Genitals Have the Genetic Ability to Get Strange. They Don’t

ScienceNews
One early idea linking genital shape with the formation of species proposed that developing a unique his-and-hers fit worked as a lock and key that separated members of one species from another. One of Sota’s early papers, in 1998, proposed that the genital quirks of the ground beetles worked as just this kind of separator of species. The lock-and-key concept sounded great, says NC State's Brian Langerhans. But disputes over evidence of the process led “to many believing it played little role in reality.” Recently though, he says, the idea is rousing interest again.