News and Services

NSF names 9 winners of VITAL Prize Challenge The U.S. National Science Foundation announced the winners of the Visionary Interdisciplinary Teams Advancing Learning (VITAL) Prize Challenge. Launched in the fall of 2022, the VITAL Prize Challenge takes a novel approach to bringing new, emerging… Read more at nsf.gov

NSF invests nearly $10M to develop transformative bio-inspired solutions The U.S. National Science Foundation is investing $9.75 million to advance novel solutions for complex societal and economic challenges inspired by biological systems. NSF's investment awards 15 multidisciplinary teams to Phase 1 of the NSF… Read more at nsf.gov

NSF research security training modules now available The U.S. National Science Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of four interactive online research security training modules, now available to researchers and institutions across the U.S. These modules are designed to facilitate principled… Read more at nsf.gov

Democratizing the future of AI R&D: NSF to launch National AI Research Resource pilot Alexandria, Virginia: Today, the U.S. National Science Foundation and collaborating agencies launched the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) pilot, a first step towards realizing the vision for a shared research infrastructure… Read more at nsf.gov

Researchers invent new way to stretch diamond for better quantum bits A future quantum network may become less of a stretch, thanks to researchers at the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory and Cambridge University.A U.S. National Science Foundation-supported team has announced a breakthrough in quantum… Read more at nsf.gov

Microplastics' shape determines how far they travel in the atmosphere 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'… Read more at nsf.gov

Combining cell types may lead to improved cardiac cell therapy following heart attack 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… Read more at nsf.gov

New model adds human reactions to flood risk assessment 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… Read more at nsf.gov

​​​NSF and philanthropic partners announce $16 million in funding to prioritize ethical and social considerations in emerging technologies​​ 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… Read more at nsf.gov

People are disrupting natural 'salt cycle' on a global scale, new study shows 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… Read more at nsf.gov

NSF invests over $16M in six academic institutions for cybersecurity scholarships Today the U.S. National Science Foundation announced six new academic institutions are being awarded CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service (SFS) grants, an investment of over $16 million toward training the next generation of cybersecurity… Read more at nsf.gov

Self-correcting quantum computers within reach? Quantum computers promise to reach speeds and efficiencies impossible for even the fastest supercomputers of today. But quantum computers, unlike classical ones, cannot correct errors by copying encoded data over and over. Because of this inability… Read more at nsf.gov

Scientists isolate early-warning tremor pattern in lab-made earthquakes Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have successfully isolated a pattern of lab-made 'foreshock' tremors. The finding offers hope that future earthquakes could be forecast by a swarm of smaller previous tremors.The U.S. National Science… Read more at nsf.gov

Mechanics of breast cancer metastasis discovered, offering target for treatment The most lethal feature of any cancer is metastasis, the spread of cancer cells throughout the body. New research, led by Penn State, reveals for the first time the mechanics behind how breast cancer cells may invade healthy tissues. The U.S… Read more at nsf.gov

NSF launches EducateAI initiative The U.S. National Science Foundation is excited to announce the EducateAI initiative. The goal of the initiative is to enable educators to make high-quality, audience-appropriate artificial intelligence educational experiences available nationwide to… Read more at nsf.gov

Epiphytes, plants such as moss and bromeliads found in trees, face growing threats Orchids, mosses and ferns — or epiphytes, defined as nonparasitic plants that grow on other plants — are crucial for Earth's biodiversity and play essential roles in forests worldwide, building habitats in trees for a myriad of other life forms, from… Read more at nsf.gov

Gray whale die-offs driven by food supply swings in changing Arctic conditions A long-term Arctic biological data set maintained by University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) scientists has been instrumental in determining the cause of a series of die-offs of eastern Pacific gray whales. According to a U.S… Read more at nsf.gov

Researchers develop promising approach to smaller, more powerful, safer electric vehicle batteries Two factors dominate the development of batteries for electric vehicles: power, which determines the vehicle range; and cost, critical in the competition with internal combustion engines. The targets set by the U.S. Department of Energy to accelerate… Read more at nsf.gov

The moon is 40M years older than previously thought By analyzing tiny lunar zircon crystals gathered by Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972, researchers recalculated the age of the Earth's moon. Although previous assessments estimated the moon as over 4.42 billion years old, the new study has discovered it… Read more at nsf.gov

NSF Director Panchanathan headlines the Canadian Science Policy Conference in Ottawa, signs international collaboration arrangement In mid-November, U.S. National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan traveled to Ottawa, Canada, where he signed a bilateral research arrangement during a ceremony hosted by the U.S. Ambassador to Canada. He also served as a featured… Read more at nsf.gov