News

Feb 7, 2012

Virus discovery holds mystery, potential

A previously unknown virus discovered by North Carolina State University scientists may hold keys to managing another virus that causes a debilitating disease. 

Feb 7, 2012

Freezing federal spending

Concern about the federal deficit and the debt is widespread. One simple proposal often offered to reduce the deficit is just to freeze federal spending at current levels. The idea is that as federal revenues rise the annual deficit, and ultimately the total debt, will fall. Is there any issue with this proposal? N.C. State University economist Mike Walden responds. 

Feb 6, 2012

Mike DeGruy, CALS 2010-11 Distinguished Alumnus, has died in helicopter crash

Michael V. DeGruy, award-winning nature cinematographer and marine scientist, died Feb. 3 in a helicopter crash in Australia. 

Feb 6, 2012

Costs and benefits of homeowning

Home sales have improved. But they’re still 25 percent under pre-recessionary levels. The percentage of households renting is up. N.C. State University economist Mike Walden says people are evaluating the buy-a-home versus rent decision differently today. 

Feb 3, 2012

Celebrating the work of life scientists

In this Winter 2012 issue, we turn to the College’s life sciences in recognition of the contributions and impacts those programs are making while bringing innovative solutions to the challenges facing our citizens locally, nationally and globally. 

Feb 3, 2012

Designing jet fuels of the future

Using micro-organisms able to survive in some of the most extreme environments on Earth, two CALS researchers are working to turn plants and algae into oil-producing factories efficient enough to help solve the problem of the world’s diminishing petroleum reserves. 

Feb 3, 2012

Cleaning up fuels of the past

While N.C. State University researchers work to create next-generation fuels, Dr. Michael Hyman examines the opposite of a fuel’s lifecycle, studying how microbes in the soil can degrade gasoline components. And that work has important implications for cleaning up spills and protecting groundwater from contamination. 

Feb 3, 2012

A two-way street

Just a few days after Vickie Wilson defended her Ph.D. dissertation in toxicology at N.C. State, she was conducting postdoctoral research at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, thanks to a cooperative training agreement that gives scientists-in-training more laboratory experience while providing the EPA with more research muscle. 

Feb 3, 2012

Thoroughly modern maladies

Manmade chemicals have become nearly ubiquitous. They are found in the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe. But are they safe? It’s a big, complicated question with implications for human health, the environment and the economy. And it’s a question that many CALS life scientists are addressing. One of them is Dr. Heather Patisaul. 

Feb 3, 2012

Taking a bite out of mosquito-borne viruses

The mosquito-borne virus that causes an estimated 300 million dengue fever infections each year is considered one of the world’s biggest health threats. But thanks to a discovery by CALS biochemists, a promising vaccine is in the pipeline.