An Instrumental Place

Chris Hewett, supervisor of the Department of Physics Instrument Shop, welds the roundhouse, a stainless steel cylindrical structure that experimental physicists will use to study low-energy neutrons.

Feb 14, 2024

An Instrumental Place

Experimental research often requires the creation of custom equipment. The Department of Physics Instrument Shop is up for the challenge.

Sonja Salmon (left) and Siyan Wang (right) stand in the lab with lab coats and protective glasses. Salmon holds fabric samples and Wang holds two bottles of solution with some fabric fragments visible.

Jan 29, 2024

NC State Textile Waste Research Paves Way for Greener Textile Future

Ph.D. student Siyan Wang’s breakthrough research on cotton fiber fragments earned a prestigious spot on the front cover of Cellulose journal. See how her research is changing the game for textile recycling.

The NC State Belltower at dusk and night. Photo by Marc Hall

Jan 26, 2024

New NSF Center Will Advance Textile Industry ‘Greening’

The effort aims to reduce textile waste and make advances in wearable, medical and protective textiles.

black-and-white video still shows a ringlike object in a square space that has one gap for an entrance. A bright white line shows the path that the object has taken in tracing the contours of the space.

Jan 8, 2024

New Soft Robots Roll Like Tires, Spin Like Tops and Orbit Like Moons

The device, which operates without human or computer control, holds promise for developing technologies that can be used to navigate unknown environments.

illustration shows two pieces of metal foam being welded together using an induction welder. Several inches away from the site of the weld (which is white hot), the metal foam is cool enough to touch with a bare hand.

Dec 14, 2023

Researchers Find Way to Weld Metal Foam Without Melting Its Bubbles

Traditional welding impairs the qualities that make metal foams desirable. Now researchers have found a solution.

Dec 13, 2023

Aquatic Insects in Restored Streams Need More Rocks to Lay Their Eggs

If you want aquatic insect egg populations to take off, you need more runways, according to a new study.

Dec 13, 2023

Study Overturns Conventional Wisdom About Wild Turkey Nesting Survival

The findings shed new light on how climate change may affect wild turkey populations.

View of biopolymer film on left and microscopic view of the film on right.

Dec 11, 2023

Researchers Combine Biopolymers Derived From the Ocean to Replace Synthetic Plastic Films

Crustacean and seaweed materials combined in a unique way could provide a sustainable alternative to plastic films.

Dec 8, 2023

What Can 66-Million-Year-Old Carbon Dioxide Data Tell Us About Our Future Climate?

The last time Earth had CO2 levels comparable to current ones was 14 million years ago.

Dec 7, 2023

Ancient Stars Made Extraordinarily Heavy Elements

How heavy can an element be? Ancient stars were capable of producing elements heavier than any element on the periodic table found naturally on Earth.

Staff