Weird Science

From debunking vampire myths to saving billions in pest control, scientists at Singletary Lake State Park reveal why North Carolina’s bats are essential to our ecosystem.

A newly published study has successfully demonstrated that analyzing residual plant and animal DNA in municipal wastewater can deliver accurate, real-time population nutrition data. Researchers say this breakthrough could fundamentally change how public health officials monitor dietary habits, food insecurity, and economic health.

Led by Dr. Patrick Treuthardt of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, the project asks everyday volunteers to review automated, color-coded maps of spiral galaxy arms.

For nearly a century, American school children have been taught the same haunting mystery. In 1587, a group of English colonists landed on Roanoke Island. Then, they vanished, leaving behind only one cryptic clue carved into a wooden gatepost: the word "Croatoan."In this edition of Weird Science, Public Radio East's Annette Weston spoke with a Buxton native who is using science to dispel what he said is the myth behind the truth.

Led by NC State and NC Sea Grant, the study involves releasing GPS-equipped plastic bottles into the Neuse River to track their movement in real time. The goal is to solve the mystery of how land-based waste transforms into the marine debris that clutters our coastlines.

Dr. Julie Horvath is the head of the Genomics & Microbiology Research Lab at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and also an Associate Research Professor at North Carolina Central University. She’s studying personal hygiene and its effects on the microbes on our skin – by taking samples from people's arm pits and from the underarms of other primates.

A new North Carolina study connected cooking with science, examining how fermented foods like kombucha and kimchi – which have had a huge surge in popularity in recent years – not only taste good but are also good for you.

Hyper-realistic videos and images — digitally altered photos, video or audio also called deepfakes — are notorious for social media pranking, but the technology has serious scientific applications, too, including ongoing efforts to study and conserve endangered species like the North Atlantic Right Whale.

A dig in eastern North Carolina last week had a scientist up to his armpits in mud, and led to some great finds for a museum collection, including fossils from the age of dinosaurs. The paleontologist that led the dig is also hoping to someday solve an enduring Onslow County fossil mystery.

Veterans Memorial Reef is a non-profit organization that honors fallen heroes by placing them in an aquatic memorial so they may be laid to rest at sea off the coast of North Carolina. It has partnered with Natrx, which specializes in creating 3-D printed artificial reefs.