NSF News

Dry lightning can still be disastrous even when conditions aren't so dry, a study has found. These cloud-to-ground strikes during little to no rainfall were previously thought to pose wildfire danger only if occurring with less than 2.5 mm of rain in…

Freshwater ecosystems account for half of global emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. Rivers and streams, especially, are thought to emit a substantial amount of that methane, but the rates and patterns of…

A $72.5 million investment from the U.S. National Science Foundation will drive the design, discovery and development of advanced materials needed to address major societal challenges. The Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future…

Today, the U.S. National Science Foundation — along with partner funding agencies from Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom — announced awards totaling $76.4 million for the inaugural Global Centers Competition. These international…

Scientists at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science and North-West University in South Africa have discovered a new species of marine cryptofauna in the Florida Keys. Cryptofauna are the tiny, hidden…

Using artificial intelligence to analyze tens of thousands of X-ray images and genetic sequences, researchers, including two NSF Graduate Research Fellows at The University of Texas at Austin and New York Genome Center, have been able to pinpoint the…

The U.S. National Science Foundation today announced 24 research and education projects with a total investment of $45.6 million — including funding from the "CHIPS and Science Act of 2022" — to enable rapid progress in new semiconductor technologies…

Building a mathematics-based understanding of biology at all scales of life — from individual cells to interactions between species — is the goal of a new $50 million institute supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation in partnership with the…

The U.S. National Science Foundation granted the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum over $11 million to support the creation of the new "National Science Foundation Discovering Our Universe" exhibition. The exhibition will illuminate how the…

Exploring, understanding and harnessing mysterious phenomena at the frontiers of physics are the aims of four research centers to be backed by $76 million in funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation through its Physics Frontiers Centers…

When breast cancer is diagnosed in the earliest stages, the survival rate is nearly 100%. However, for tumors detected in later stages, that rate drops to around 25%. In hopes of improving the overall survival rate for breast cancer patients, MIT…

There's a complex world beneath our feet, teeming with diverse and interdependent life. Plants call out with chemical signals in times of stress, summoning microbes that can unlock bound nutrients and find water in soil pores too small for the finest…

The U.S. National Science Foundation has invested over $2.7 million in 10 projects through the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). This investment, in collaboration with NASA, aims to strengthen research infrastructure and…

The U.S. National Science Foundation has announced two awards through the Centers for Innovation and Community Engagement in Solid Earth Geohazards program. The Cascadia Region Earthquake Science Center (CRESCENT) and the Statewide California…

The U.S. National Science Foundation has announced grants for two new resource centers for Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), an investment of nearly $14 million. The NSF HSI Program Network Resource Centers and Hubs (HSI-Net) support the…

Who lived at Machu Picchu at its height? A study published in Science Advances used ancient DNA to find out where workers buried more than 500 years ago came from in the lost Inca Empire. A team of U.S. National Science Foundation-supported…

Over the last decade, advances in 3D printing have unlocked new possibilities for bioengineers to build heart tissues and structures. Their goals include creating better in vitro platforms for discovering new therapeutics for heart disease — the…

The U. S. National Science Foundation has announced a $120 million investment over five-year to support four new Science and Technology Centers (STCs). Since program inception in 1987, the STC: Integrative Partnerships program has supported…

Researchers at North Carolina State University have found that a program designed to involve Girl Scouts in citizen science — in which members of the public can participate in scientific research — not only taught girls how to conduct research but…

Spiders are often maligned for being creepy critters, but they are some of the most environmentally friendly pest regulators. Because they actively feed on flies, moths, mosquitoes and roaches, spiders eliminate parasites and many other vectors of…