North Carolina State University

Windows are pretty basic necessities for letting in light and heat, but you don’t always want both at once. Now engineers at North Carolina State University have developed a new material that allows windows to easily switch between three modes.

Using a novel design inspired by the Japanese art of paper cutting, researchers have developed gentle yet strong robotic grippers that can fold clothes, grasp a drop of water, lift 16,000 times their own weight, and turn the pages of a book.

Conventional breeding of trees takes time, but CRISPR gene editing should help speed things up. Now, scientists at North Carolina State University have used CRISPR to adjust the genomes of poplar trees to make them easier to turn into paper products.

Although there are several methods of 3D-printing metal objects, all of them involve heat – which isn't conducive to producing heat-sensitive electronics, among other things. A new gel, however, can be used to print such items at room temperature.

A brand new form of silicon might help extend its use into the future. Engineers at North Carolina State University have discovered a material called Q-silicon, with new properties that could have important uses in quantum computers and spintronics.

A new study has found that consuming a widely available artificial sweetener produces a chemical that is damaging to DNA. The findings raise concerns about whether the sweetener is a contributing factor to a number of health problems.

Science continues to make advances in smart fabrics. Now, a team of international researchers has created a wearable textile that can self-repair, is antibacterial, and could even be used to monitor a person’s heart rhythm.

We may be one step closer to using technology to ensure productive, disease-free crops, thanks to the development of a multifunctional electronic patch ‘worn’ by plants that monitors for the presence of pathogens and environmental stressors.

If you're making a small robot that can explore tight spaces, it would be good if that device could also shimmy its way through narrow gaps. An experimental new robot can do just that, by emulating a caterpillar.

In order to see how well a corn plant is performing photosynthesis, you need to check the angle of its leaves relative to its stem. And while scientists ordinarily have to do so with a protractor, a new robotic system can now do the job much quicker.

The negative health effects of chemicals called PFAS continue to be uncovered. Scientists from North Carolina State University (NCSU) have now shown that some types of PFAS can disrupt vital functions of immune cells.

If there's one thing that the past few years have made us of aware of, it's the danger of respiratory viruses. An inhalable powder may one day help temporarily protect against them, by working with the natural layer of mucus in users' lungs.