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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…

The U.S. National Science Foundation has announced a $35 million award to the University of Chicago to operate the brand new Synchrotron for Earth and Environmental Science (SEES) facility that will develop, manage, operate and support user access to…

U.S. National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan traveled to India at the end of August, making stops in three cities: New Delhi, Bengaluru and Gandhinagar. In New Delhi, he announced a new funding opportunity between NSF and the…

A good battery needs two things: high energy density to power devices; and stability, so it can be safely and reliably recharged thousands of times. For the past three decades, lithium-ion batteries have reigned supreme — proving their performance in…

Schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease that causes organ damage and death, affected more than 250 million people worldwide in 2021, according to the World Health Organization. One of the world's most burdensome neglected tropical diseases…

In a first for white dwarfs, the burnt-out cores of dead stars, astronomers have discovered that at least one member of this cosmic family is two-faced. One side of the white dwarf is composed of hydrogen, the other is made up of helium. "The surface…

During the summer of 2018, the Mendocino Complex Fire ripped through the University of California Hopland Research and Extension Center (HREC), transforming the Northern California property's grassy, oak-dotted hillsides into a smoldering, ash…

Polymers are well-known macromolecules in materials science and engineering communities, but most of us may not be aware of how often we're touching, using and interfacing with these materials. Polymers can be engineered to have desired properties…

Scientists have made an important step toward developing computers advanced enough to simulate complex natural phenomena at the quantum level. While these types of simulations are too cumbersome or outright impossible for classical computers to…

For people who have suffered neurotrauma such as a stroke, everyday tasks can be extremely challenging because of decreased coordination and strength. These problems have spurred the development of robotic devices to help enhance their abilities…

A new breed of sensors may one day allow doctors to pinpoint infections inside individual cells, or geologists to find subterranean mineral deposits without lifting a shovel. Bringing such innovations to fruition is the goal of 18 research teams…

A U.S. National Science Foundation-supported study finds that most phosphorus stakeholders — representing a wide swath of industry, agriculture, environmental and policy interests — have significant doubts about the long-term sustainability of…

Neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center say the brain's auditory lexicon, a catalog of verbal language, is located in front of the primary auditory cortex, not behind it — a finding that challenges previous understanding of this area…

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. National Science Foundation announced the first cohort of geothermal interns in the NSF INTERN program. Through this collaboration — the first activity coordinated under the NSF-DOE Memorandum of…

In popular culture, quantum is a descriptive term often added to various technical topics and projects to make them sound cool. But what is quantum mechanics, really, and how do we know whether quantum technologies will transform computing, communications, sensing, and a host of other fields?

Halide perovskites are a family of materials that have attracted attention for their superior optoelectronic properties and potential applications in devices such as high-performance solar cells, light-emitting diodes and lasers. These materials have…

Nearly 700,000 people in the United States die from heart disease every year, and one-third of those deaths result from complications in the first weeks or months following a traumatic heart-related event. To help prevent those deaths, U.S. National…