UNC-TV Science | UNC-TV

UNC Charlotte researchers apply motion analysis to study how the body responds after injuries, surgeries, and rehab programs.

We may not think of it as much when gas is cheap, but eventually there are many economic and environmental reasons to transition away from fossil fuels. See the biofuels reactor that RTI International researchers are using to create gasoline-like hydrocarbon fuels from plant material and the challenges of creating biofuels..

Diamond is a collection of interconnected carbon atoms whose strong chemical bonds make the brilliant, super-hard crystals we know. Watch NC State University researchers create brighter, harder, magnetic diamonds with a few quick blasts of a powerful laser. See how by rearranging the chemical bonds in a diamond, they can quickly and cheaply make the new and improved Q-carbon.

The United Nations estimates that 1.4 billion people worldwide don't have electric light. See how a Charlotte company's easy-to-use solar power system is lighting many homes and clinics in the developing world.

Viruses like influenza, Ebola and Zika can spread widely around the world through shipping, travel and other ways we humans move things from one place to another. DNA sequencing can provide a roadmap that a virus has followed to get where it is today. Watch as researchers use DNA sequencing to create a powerful tool to track the spread of the Zika virus around the world.

Davidson College professors study how invasive pythons are devastating the Everglades and could come as far North as Washington, DC. See how the voracious appetites of these huge snakes could spell trouble for animals throughout the Southeast.

To our ears, the sound of being underwater is all the same muffled tone, but to East Carolina University scientists, the noise carries all sorts of information about the ocean. Watch as researchers use their acoustic wave glider named "Blackbeard" to study underwater noise, acoustically tagged fish and environmental conditions in the ocean.

This week, we investigate genetically modified crops. See how and why they're made and what different people think about them. We also dive into natural microbial options to protect our crops from pests. Finally we wrap up our three part series on learning STEM by playing outside!

This week on SciTech Now North Carolina, we're going for a new perspective. First, we double-dip on drones. See how Wake Forest University researchers are designing drones to map coal ash spills and how RTI researchers use them to track public health. See how coastal scientists are using every perspective available to them to map the NC coast. Finally we see more STEM education by playing outside.

This week on SciTech Now, we do a bit of traveling. We visit the NC Coast where each year you can see millions of birds during their migration. See how scientists track the NC state fish, the red drum, to learn about its habitat. We check in with the NC Science Festival about hands-on science. Finally, we get back outside with our Play Outside NC series.

Your armpits carry millions of tiny microbial passengers. Watch scientists study the ecosystem of the armpit and learn how deodorants can affect not only your social life, but also your microbial life.

Whether it's biting your nails, chewing on a pen or watching too much TV, everyone has a habit and they are very hard to break. Watch as Duke scientists explore the lasting changes habits leave on the circuitry of our brains.

The Eastern United States' mightiest tree, the oak, is in decline, possibly due to over-harvesting or climate change. Whatever the cause, scientists are trying to find ways to reverse this decline. Watch U.S. Forest Service researchers use fire to give young oaks room to grow in the North Carolina mountains.

This week we're going back in time. See the room at NC State where researchers can use virtual reality to travel into history. We investigate whether the tale of the Trojan Horse was the whole story. Decades before Roanoke, walk through a Spanish fort that was the earliest inland settlement in the New World. Finally we chat with Jonathan Frederick, the director of the NC Science Festival.

This week, animals! Go inside the largest lemur colony outside of Madagascar to see these feisty, furry primates up close. See how camera traps are keeping an eye on the wild things in our back yards. We dive deep off North Carolina's coast to meet the hungriest invasive species around. Finally we answer the question hours of YouTube can't: Why is that thing so cute!?

This week, we get tasty! Blueberries are not only tasty, but they are also a healthful superfood! See the brewers at Raleigh Brewing Company harness biochemistry to make beer. We crack open the story of a hypoallergenic peanut. And finally, watch as scientists chart out where to find the best oysters free of potentially dangerous microbes.

This week, we chat with ECU's Snake Doctor to learn about venom and antivenom. Look out for his slithering friends too! Bill Nye the Science Guy chats about his new book and a satellite that uses light to fly around the solar system. See how Raleigh scientists are developing the vaccines of the future. And finally, we see a day in the life of an ocularist, a designer of prosthetics for eyes.

Chemicals surround us: in the air, the water, our food, our clothes and our furniture. Which ones are dangerous? How much of them is dangerous? Watch as EPA scientists in Research Triangle Park use chemical toxicology tests to answer these questions.

This week, mysteries! We visit a spot in Chatham County where nothing grows. Is it the soil or something more sinister? We see how bones can tell the story of someone's life and death and we show the dark story told in the bones of a young girl from Jamestown. Finally, see how scientists can learn how early Native Americans lived in the most logical place: the floor of Lake Huron!

See the new device NASA is testing to chip pieces off an asteroid. The new tool for astronauts was not developed in NASA labs, but rather at High Point University right here in North Carolina. Scientists are interested in asteroids because they haven't changed much since the dawn of the solar system, and rocks the "Chip and Ship" can capture give scientists a picture of the solar system back then.

This week, we dive into the toilet and how providing toilets to parts of the developing world can solve health problems. We follow medicines flushed down the toilet all the way downstream to the sea. See what happens to the river and ocean life on the way. We look at potentially dangerous things swimming in the ocean — no they're not sharks! Finally watch an effort to preserve abalone snails!

This week, see how the plastic bottles you recycle can wind up back in your home. A person can tell you how soft and breathable clothes are, but when you need to light them on fire, it's best to get a robot. Watch the textile trials! We chat with Neil Degrasse Tyson about science and curiosity, and finally we'll show you a stunning, inside view of life-changing brain surgery.

This week we lose our train of thought......with the science of daydreaming. Big energy needs a big magnet. Watch San Diego scientists design a magnet for fusion power. We chat with scientists and government officials about the possibility of offshore wind energy in North Carolina, and watch as we go for a spin in an electric-pedal hybrid in Asheville.

This week, learn how paleontologists use satellite technology to find dinosaurs more easily. An astronautical engineer explains how humans and robots work together in space. Learn how social media and gaming technology are changing the hiring process. Finally, we profile two medical treatments that use sight and sound to heal hands and feet.

This week, we dive into the science of political polls and how selecting the correct few can reflect the opinions of many. We show you a new type of farming that requires little water, no fertilizer, no pesticides...and no soil. Finally we answer the ancient question, "How many licks to the center of a lollipop?"

Watch researchers at the National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center in Asheville use computers and graphics to model future land use and climate.

In March of 1781, the British Army suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in Greensboro. Seven months later, the British surrendered at Yorktown. Watch as archaeologist us ground-penetrating radar to see what's buried at Guilford Courthouse, saving time and resources at they unlock the secrets of a major turning point in the Revolutionary War.

Mechatronics blends principles of design and engineering to create the most innovative, economical, appropriate and elegant solutions to engineering problems. Watch engineers and students from NC State University and UNC-Asheville put mechatronics into action.

UNC Wilmington researchers build new facial recognition technology with a wide range of applications, including health and national security.

Nobody knows how Carolina Bays were formed. They look like swamps and wetlands from ground level, but from the air they take on a fascinating uniform shape and directional alignment.

From a pollution-sensing bench to high tech monitoring devices, EPA researchers in Research Triangle Park are at the forefront of monitoring the nation’s air quality.

Our communities and even our society is becoming increasingly eco-conscious. From recycling and composting to electric - and even pedal-operated - vehicles, inventors and innovators are constantly coming up with new ways to be more eco-friendly. So what does that have to do with the ocean?

Black sea bass is a valuable North Carolina seafood, but degrading coastal nurseries threaten the population.

North Carolina is the resting point for the tiny piping plover, which travels thousands of miles to winter in the Bahamas and nest in Canada. Organizations are coming together to track the birds and preserve their resting point on the NC coast.

New research suggests seniors with hearing loss are significantly more likely to develop dementia over time than those who retain their hearing.

Sargassum is the reddish brown grass that floats at sea and washes up on the beach. New research shows it is also a complex island community at sea that is essential to ocean habitats.

North Carolina is one of the most dangerous states for the number of lightning fatalities, but new research makes nature’s light show more predictable.

Biologic drugs are produced by living cells, making them challenging to develop and manufacture. Biogen has one of the largest biotechnology facilities in the country in Research Triangle Park.

Novozymes has developed a groundbreaking biogas plant that turns wastewater at its Franklinton plant into energy to help power the plant.

Researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine are studying the ways in which brave cells communicate with each other. Their findings could lead to new methods in treating such mental disorders as depression and schizophrenia.

The new frontier for design and manufacturing is in three dimensions. What has become known as 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, opens a new world of design never before possible

Unveiling baby sharks, swimming with sharks, sea turtle rehab. Enjoy the wonders of the coast as the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island helps us get up close and coastal in this 30-minute special.