a handful of complex physics equations like E = mc2 on a background of the universe (lots of stars)

Speaking Math

Imagine a sentence so long that it would take an entire lifetime to read it — that’s the kind of problem Joaquín Drut faces every day. The UNC physicist works with numbers too large to compute in an ...

Career Aquatic

At the end of his 40-year career at the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences, Dive Safety Officer Glenn Safrit reflects on the most important lessons he learned — and taught — in the ocean. ...
a blacklight makes everything purple while a gloved hand places a test tube full of yellow fluid into a a test tube tray

Generating Power Like Plants

When plants absorb sunlight, they convert carbon dioxide into energy-rich organic compounds. What if humans could do the same thing? What if we could pull CO2 out of the air and use it to build ...
a 40-something male holds a container of fruit flies -- shelves with colorful labels are in the background

Why a Fly?

The genome of a fruit fly is strikingly similar to that of a human — so much so that scientists have been studying these tiny insects for over 100 years, in search of treatments for diseases like ...

Go with the Flow

Streambeds act as natural water filters by trapping particles and pollutants. To better understand the dynamics of these small yet complex systems, a UNC hydrologist is creating (and clogging) her own ...

Higher Ed Hierarchy

Students across the United States graduate with, on average, $30,000 of student loan debt, which can take years — sometimes decades — to pay off. How this affects the Latino community, specifically, ...

Hashtag Politics

During the 2016 presidential election, Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Microsoft all hired dedicated teams of partisan staffers to work one-on-one with campaigns to target voters. UNC journalism ...
a young girl takes a picture of an Atlantic spotted dolphin underwater

A Day in the Life of a Dolphin Researcher

Since she was 14 years old, Liah McPherson has studied the lives of wild dolphins. This past summer, the freediving fanatic and UNC junior worked as a field assistant with The Wild Dolphin Project in ...

A Love for Latin Rhythms

Stephen Anderson, a critically acclaimed composer and pianist, and a professor in the Department of Music in the College of Arts & Sciences, has a knack for finding Latin rhythms wherever he ...
a group of young men and women plant lettuce in a raised garden

CURE-ious Chemistry

Chemistry undergraduates are developing their own research questions and projects in a new class at UNC, thanks to the drive and dedication of organic chemistry professor Nita Eskew. ...

Decades of Discovery

For 70 years, the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences, located in Morehead City, has provided a home for Carolina scientists — from undergraduate students to tenured professors — to study the complex ...
a volcano steams in the distance

The Earth is Our Laboratory

UNC earth scientists have crossed oceans and traveled to far-away continents to pursue their research, as well as studied natural systems right here in North Carolina. In celebration of Earth Science ...