National Science Foundation

At Summit for Democracy, the United States and the United Kingdom Announce Winners of Challenge to Drive Innovation in Privacy-enhancing Technologies That Reinforce Democratic Values Yesterday, at the second Summit for Democracy, the United States and the United Kingdom announced the winners of prize challenges to drive innovation in privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) that reinforce democratic values. Announced at the… Published March 31, 2023 at 06:23AM Read more at nsf.gov

Genomic study reveals signs of tuberculosis adaptation in ancient Andeans People have inhabited the Andes mountains of South America for more than 9,000 years, adapting to the scarce oxygen available at high altitudes, along with cold temperatures and intense ultraviolet radiation. A new genomic study published in the… Published March 29, 2023 at 07:13AM Read more at nsf.gov

Statement by Director Sethuraman Panchanathan on NSF ranking in Best Places to Work in the Federal Government I am proud that the U.S. National Science Foundation again earned a top spot among the 2022 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government®. For the second year in a row, NSF ranked No. 2 among mid-sized agencies as featured in a special edition… Published March 29, 2023 at 03:09AM Read more at nsf.gov

One is bad enough: Climate change raises the threat of back-to-back hurricanes Getting hit with one hurricane is bad enough, but a U.S. National Science Foundation-supported study by Princeton University researchers shows that back-to-back versions may become common for many areas in coming decades. Driven by a combination of… Published March 28, 2023 at 06:27AM Read more at nsf.gov

Superhydrophobic biosensor could measure sweat vapors on the body Sweat contains biomarkers that help doctors make health diagnoses. Wearable sensors can be used to monitor a person's perspiration rate and provide information about the skin, nervous system activity and underlying health conditions. But not all… Published March 27, 2023 at 07:25AM Read more at nsf.gov

NSF and 5 other U.S. agencies launch program to build an integrated data and knowledge infrastructure In collaboration with five other U.S. government agencies, the U.S. National Science Foundation today launched the Building the Prototype Open Knowledge Network, or Proto-OKN, funding opportunity, a $20 million initiative that will build a prototype… Published March 24, 2023 at 09:47AM Read more at nsf.gov

New reports outline bold goals for U.S. bioeconomy Today, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released a series of five reports authored by federal agencies, including the U.S. National Science Foundation, outlining bold research and development goals for the U.S. bioeconomy. The… Published March 22, 2023 at 08:30AM Read more at nsf.gov

Microbes play a key role in unleashing 'forever chemicals' from recycled-waste fertilizer "Forever chemicals" are everywhere — water, soil, crops, animals, the blood of 97% of Americans — and researchers at Drexel University are trying to figure out how they got there. Their U.S. National Science Foundation-supported findings suggest that… Published March 22, 2023 at 06:18AM Read more at nsf.gov

Urban gardens are good for ecosystems and humans Traditionally, it has been assumed that cultivating food leads to a loss of biodiversity and negative impacts on an ecosystem. A new study from researchers at multiple universities, including The University of Texas at Austin, defies this assumption… Published March 21, 2023 at 06:29AM Read more at nsf.gov

Click beetle-inspired robots use elastic energy to jump Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have made a significant leap forward in developing insect-sized jumping robots capable of performing tasks in the small spaces often found in mechanical, agricultural, and search and rescue… Published March 20, 2023 at 06:35AM Read more at nsf.gov

This week with NSF Director Panchanathan How the investments of yesterday and the actions taken today will continue to shape the future was at the forefront of NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan's mind this week. On March 13, Director Panchanathan participated in the White House Office of… Published March 17, 2023 at 12:08PM Read more at nsf.gov

US-Ireland research program celebrates 17 years with landmark $21 million investment Alexandria, VA: The U.S. National Science Foundation announced a joint overall investment of approximately $21 million through a tripartite research and development partnership between the U.S., the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, marking… Published March 17, 2023 at 05:51AM Read more at nsf.gov

Celebrating one year of TIP One year ago, under the leadership of Director Sethuraman Panchanathan, the U.S. National Science Foundation announced the establishment of the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, or TIP, the agency's first new directorate in… Published March 16, 2023 at 06:59AM Read more at nsf.gov

Chemists discover new form of carbon, graphullerene, graphene's 'superatomic' cousin Carbon in its myriad forms has long captivated the scientific community. In addition to being the primary component of all organic life on Earth, material forms of carbon have earned their fair share of breakthroughs. In 1996, the Nobel Prize in… Published March 15, 2023 at 05:48AM Read more at nsf.gov

Coral reefs in the tropical Pacific could survive into the 2060s, study finds Scientists at the University of Miami have found that some reefs in the tropical Pacific Ocean could maintain coral cover into the second half of this century by shuffling the symbiotic algae they host. The findings offer a ray of hope in an often… Published March 14, 2023 at 07:54AM Read more at nsf.gov

NSF Director participates in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy event on President’s Budget request for FY24 On March 13, U.S. National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan participated in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) event on President Biden’s FY24 Budget request which includes $210 billion for federal… Published March 14, 2023 at 06:42AM Read more at nsf.gov

A decade of unveiling the hidden universe: ALMA at 10 On March 13, 2023, astronomers around the world mark the 10th anniversary of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, or ALMA, the world's largest radio telescope. Over the past decade, the international ALMA collaboration — led by the U.S… Published March 13, 2023 at 08:12AM Read more at nsf.gov

Research shows why cancer stops responding to kinase-blocking drugs and comes back stronger More than 70 FDA-approved cancer drugs are kinase inhibitors, which work by blocking kinases — enzymes that add phosphate groups to molecules in the cell — and preventing the chemical activity necessary for signaling and growth in cancer cells… Published March 13, 2023 at 06:45AM Read more at nsf.gov

This week with NSF Director Panchanathan For over seven decades, NSF has made investments in researchers, infrastructure and programs that have expanded the frontiers of knowledge and technology, accelerating discoveries and innovations powered by curiosity-driven research and use-inspired… Published March 10, 2023 at 10:32AM Read more at nsf.gov

First-ever layered lake sediment sample extracted from subglacial Antarctica Since the discovery 50 years ago of subglacial lakes in Antarctica — some of the least accessible geological features on Earth — scientists have attempted to extract lake bed sediment to learn about the formation, movement and past conditions of the… Published March 09, 2023 at 01:29PM Read more at nsf.gov

Statement by the NSF Director on the President’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget The U.S. National Science Foundation's Fiscal Year 2024 budget request of $11.314 billion will fund research and education across all fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This funding will allow NSF to continue implementing the… Published March 09, 2023 at 09:27AM Read more at nsf.gov

NSF announces infrastructure investment to enable understanding of material structure at scales from macroscopic to atomic Alexandria, Virginia: The U.S. National Science Foundation announced $90.8 million in funding for a Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-2 award to Arizona State University to create a Compact X-ray Free-Electron Laser, or CXFEL, facility. This… Published March 08, 2023 at 01:00PM Read more at nsf.gov

Aquatic organisms respond to flooding and drought in different ways Populations of various species of aquatic insects and other invertebrates respond to flooding and waterway drying in different ways that can be anticipated, according to a new Penn State-led study that employed a novel method to assess the stability… Published March 08, 2023 at 07:19AM Read more at nsf.gov

Researchers uncover secrets of how Alaska's Denali Fault formed When the rigid plates that make up the Earth's lithosphere brush against one another, they often form boundaries, known as faults, on the planet's surface. Strike-slip faults, such as the San Andreas Fault in California and the Denali Fault in Alaska… Published March 07, 2023 at 07:24AM Read more at nsf.gov

Plants seek climate refuge across our changing planet Plants, like animals and people, seek refuge from climate change. And when they move, they take ecosystems with them. To understand why and how plants have trekked across landscapes throughout time, researchers are calling for a new framework. The… Published March 06, 2023 at 06:37AM Read more at nsf.gov

This week with NSF Director Panchanathan The three I’s to impactful change, according to NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan, are innovation, inclusion and international collaboration — and finding opportunities to advance impactful change continued to be the focus this week for the… Published March 03, 2023 at 01:08PM Read more at nsf.gov

Computers that power self-driving cars could become a driver of global carbon emissions In the future, self-driving cars' computational needs may fuel a large increase in global carbon emissions. The energy needed to run the powerful computers onboard a global fleet of autonomous vehicles could generate as much greenhouse gas emissions… Published March 01, 2023 at 06:38AM Read more at nsf.gov