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Technological advances and changes in economic conditions are shifting the skills needed to build an adaptive and successful workforce. As underscored in the 2023 National Defense Science & Technology Strategy, the United States cannot create 21st-century capabilities using 20th-century education practices. The World Economic Forum (WEF) further predicts that by 2025, 50% of all workers worldwide will need reskilling to compete in the market. The increasing reliance on technology in jobs across the market has imposed additional challenges for the workforce, especially for those from low-income and historically marginalized populations.

U.S. National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan battled winter weather this week to deliver a keynote address at the IIT2024 Global Conference, pay a visit to India House and join a panel discussion at the U.S. Conference of Mayors…

Just like the land and the ocean, the atmosphere is marred by a variety of pollutants. In recent years, a new form has been identified: micron-size microplastic debris that can be carried by the jet stream across oceans and continents.The debris'…

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and other institutions have harnessed a combination of lab-grown cells to regenerate damaged heart muscle.The study, published in Circulation, addresses major challenges of using heart muscle cells…

We usually think of materials based on our experience in the natural world. For example, something that's light is usually fragile (like a feather) or something heavy is usually strong (like a brick). But what if we could engineer a material that had completely new characteristics that defied properties found in nature? Engineered materials, also known as metamaterials, allow us to do just that.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is hosting an in-person gathering in San Francisco Feb. 21-22 to engage with science and technology companies, universities, and other research and engineering organizations interested in exploring scientific areas ripe for disruption. The event, called Discover DSO Day (D3), is sponsored by DARPA's Defense Sciences Office (DSO), whose goal is to identify and pursue high-risk, high-payoff research initiatives across a broad spectrum of science and engineering disciplines and transform them into important, new game-changing technologies for U.S. national security.

Researchers at UC San Diego have developed modular nanoparticles that can be customized to target biological entities such as tumors, viruses or toxins. The surfaces of the nanoparticles are engineered to host biological molecules, making it possible…

The way ice forms is much more interesting than expected. This basic physical process, among the most common in nature, remains somewhat mysterious despite decades of scientific scrutiny.Now, U.S. National Science Foundation-supported research by…

This week, U.S. National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan welcomed Gintaras Valinčius, chairman of the Research Council of Lithuania and Audra Plepytė, Lithuanian ambassador to the U.S., to NSF headquarters. Discussions centered…

Quantum materials hold the key to a future of lightning-fast, energy-efficient information systems. However, the problem with tapping their transformative potential is that, in solids, the vast number of atoms often drowns out the exotic quantum…

Destructive winds that flow out of thunderstorms in the central United States are becoming more widespread with warming temperatures, according to new research by the U.S. National Science Foundation-supported National Center for Atmospheric Research…

It can take years of focused laboratory work to determine how to make the highest quality materials for use in electronic and photonic devices, which are designed to create, manipulate or detect light. Researchers have now developed an autonomous…

Researchers at North Carolina State University have created a land-change model that simulates interactions between urban growth, increased flooding and human response. The new model could offer a more realistic assessment of risk for urban planners…

The U.S. National Science Foundation today launched a new $16 million program in collaboration with five philanthropic partners that seeks to ensure ethical, legal, community and societal considerations are embedded in the lifecycle of technology’s…

To paraphrase author Mark Twain, reports of declining phytoplankton in the North Atlantic may have been greatly exaggerated. An earlier study used ice cores in Antarctica to suggest that marine productivity in the North Atlantic had declined by 10%…

The demand for salt comes at a cost to the environment and human health, according to a scientific review led by University of Maryland geologist Sujay Kaushal. Published in the journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, the U.S. National Science…

Ammonia, a main component of many fertilizers, could play a key role in a carbon-free fuel system as a convenient way to transport and store clean hydrogen. The chemical, made of hydrogen and nitrogen, can also be burned as a zero-carbon fuel…

The U.S. National Science Foundation today announced a comprehensive reorganization of its information technology functions, marked by the establishment of a new independent and consolidated Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO). This…

DARPA has selected Aurora Flight Sciences to build a full-scale X-plane to demonstrate the viability of using active flow control (AFC) actuators for primary flight control. The award is Phase 3 of the Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors (CRANE) program.