I take serious interest in every science story I report on, but I must admit I had a special interest in this story due to personal experience. I tore my ACL a couple years ago. Ironically, I didn’t injure my ACL playing football or basketball or skiing; I tore it while hiking. I was stepping down onto a lower trail and my leg gave out. The doctor told me that many ACL injuries he treats stem from fairly routine activities like what I was doing. This didn’t make me feel any better.
North Carolina Science Now
Life of the Vikings
WCU Professor Leads International Team on Viking Research
June 25, 2016
The Price of Biofuels
Before we talk about future fuels, it’s important to spell out some definitions.
A biofuel is a fuel that is produced through contemporary biological processes. I know that’s quite a mouthful for a definition, but it takes in agriculture, plants growing wild in the forest, field crops like corn, ocean grasses, and even anaerobic digestion. In fact, biofuels can be derived directly from plants, or indirectly from agricultural, commercial, domestic, and/or industrial waste.
Make your own Diamond
Scientists are still figuring out just how diamonds were formed in the Earth roughly one-to-three billion years ago. But while the research continues, if you wanted to give creating diamonds a try, maybe because you’re ready to take the next step in your relationship or you're looking for an investment, here’s a rough recipe.
First, it’s important to know that diamonds are made out of carbon.
So, start by burying carbon dioxide about 100-150 miles deep in the Earth’s mantle.
Billions in the Dark
If you are reading this, there’s a good chance you have access to electricity; at home, work, and even on the go by using a battery in a laptop or mobile device. Let’s face it; we take electrical power for granted.
But we shouldn’t.
Talk Like an Epidemiologist
This might just be enough to make you lose your appetite.
There you are, home early, and you decide to throw together a little dinner, flop onto the couch, and watch some TV. You happen to flip on the news and hear the anchor report:
Through the Ocean Noise
Sound is something you might not think about when it comes to the ocean. But sound plays a key role in understanding the ocean, and the diverse life that call it home. Marine animals use sound to navigate, communicate, find food, find mates and even avoid predators.
Using SMARTS to find stars
Students and professors from High Point University were able to make an incredible star discovery in Chile. But not just anyone can use the telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory like they did. The star-searching group was able to do this because HPU is part of the SMARTS Telescope Consortium.
How to Kick that Habit
Now that Duke University researchers have shown how habits form, and unform, in the brain, the idea of actually breaking a bad habit looks like even more of a challenge. But researchers say, take heart, it can still be done! In fact, knowing what you're up against, as revealed in Duke's research, plays a big role in winning the battle.
Here are some tips for breaking bad habits:
1. Understand the Situation
The Clean Revolution
If you want to understand the uniquely American obsession with cleanliness, including the use of deodorants, you have to start with the United States military. More specifically, you have to start with a pivotal point in military history that not only changed America, but in the long run, also changed how Americans viewed sanitation.