Discoveries

NSF's public investment in science, engineering, education and technology helps to create knowledge and sustain prosperity. Read here about the Internet, microbursts, Web browsers, extrasolar planets, and more... a panoply of discoveries and innovations that began with NSF support.

Page: Previous | Next (Showing: 1-30 of 306)

		The Biological Clock's Incredible Influence Revealed University of Georgia researchers find that the number of genes under the control of the biological clock in bread mold is dramatically higher than previously reported Released  November 5, 2008
		Foamy Invention Could Save Energy and Lives NSF CAREER awardee Afsaneh Rabiei's ultra-high-strength composite metal foam could revolutionize impact protection Released  October 29, 2008
		First Ultracold Polar Molecule Gas Ready for Research Groundbreaking technique could lead to quantum computers, molecular clocks and super-efficient power plants Released  October 29, 2008
		'Gone Bats' Over Aeroecology New scientific discipline studies bats, birds, other animals in atmosphere closest to Earth's surface Released  October 28, 2008
		Gut Reaction: Digestion Revealed in 3-D James Brassseur and his multidisciplinary team image the dynamic mixing of fluids and nutrient exchange in the human digestive system Released  October 17, 2008
		How to Make Adhesive as Good as a Gecko Materials scientist Ali Dhinojwala and his team use nanotechnology to develop adhesive tapes that stick better than a gecko’s foot Released  October 16, 2008
		Using Your Computer to Grow More Nutritious Rice for a Hungry World Computational biologists use a powerful distributed computing network to research rice genome for increased yields of more nourishing rice varieties Released  October 14, 2008
		Teaching Is in This Scientist's Genes Doctoral student Susannah Gordon-Messer talks about her research and her science outreach using “bouncy, sticky, slimy chemistry” to educate and inspire young minds Released  October 10, 2008
		Klein Bottle is a Real Natural in the Zoo of Geometric Shapes Discovery could advance understanding of human vision and lead to powerful data compression techniques Released  October 7, 2008
		Financial Markets Grow 'Green' Companies Investors see 'green' firms as less risky, charge lower interest rates Released  October 7, 2008
		Size Trade-off: Horns vs. Copulatory Organs Indiana University biologist Armin Moczek explains his findings about the inverse relationship between horn and copulatory organ size in male beetles and how it affects species divergence Released  September 30, 2008
		Mysteries of the Unregulated Internet Researchers develop an alert system and protocol improvements to keep Internet traffic flowing smoothly Released  September 29, 2008
		The Bizarre Creatures of Madagascar Paleontologist David Krause describes his search for the ancestors of mammals that live in Madagascar today Released  September 24, 2008
		Finding the Switches to Our Cells' 'Computer' Thousands of memory switches inside our cells help them remember and function Released  September 24, 2008
		Glacier Movement Limits How Fast Sea Level Can Rise Study finds 3 to 6 feet by 2100 possible Released  September 18, 2008
		Archaeology of the Stars Michigan State researcher Timothy Beers studies the formation and evolution of stars born many billions of years before the Sun Released  September 17, 2008
		Researcher Walks Among Dying Baby Chimps Virginia Tech scientist Taranjit Kaur describes her team's research studying chimpanzees in western Tanzania and the virus that is threatening the chimps’ health Released  September 9, 2008
		Economist Hedges Bets on Wildfires in California Social scientist Joanne Ho describes an interdisciplinary approach to researching the risks to residents, homes and firefighters in areas threatened by wildfires Released  September 8, 2008
		Bones in Lava Tubes Reveal Hawaii's Natural History Michigan State University's Matthew Cimitile describes a Hawaiian adventure exploring lava tubes in search of bird bones from endangered and extinct species Released  August 22, 2008
		Students Give High Marks to First U.S.-Japan Glass Science School Meeting brings U.S. university students and researchers together with their Japanese counterparts to talk about new developments and potential collaborations in glass research Released  August 21, 2008
		A Thousand Points of Light: Bioluminescent Fungi San Francisco State University Mycologist Dennis Desjardin Takes Readers Along on a Nocturnal Hike in a Brazilian Forest to Find Glowing Mushrooms Released  August 15, 2008
		Violent Crime and Civic Engagement in Rural Communities Sociologist Matthew Lee designs a new conceptual model to study violence in rural settings Released  August 12, 2008
		Crumbling Walls of Ancient Chesapeake Bay Crater Threaten Regional Groundwater Supplies Saltwater intrusion into collapsing crater also allows microbes to flourish Released  August 12, 2008
		Teaching Computers How to Write Fast Software Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University develop a framework to replace the human programmer in high performance numerical library development Released  August 8, 2008
		Natural Bio-Army Trained to Fight Cancer Bioengineer Tarek Fahmy and colleagues are engineering new nanoscopic and microscopic biomaterials to stimulate the body’s production of killer T-cells to fight infectious diseases Released  August 8, 2008
		Physicists Gear Up for Huge Data Flow University of Nebraska researchers build a computer center to handle the flood of data expected from the world's next-generation particle accelerator Released  August 7, 2008
		The Choreography of Dancing Molecules Photochemist Elizabeth Harbron and her students investigate the properties of conjugated polymers that can be activated by light Released  August 5, 2008
		Math Could Aid in Curing Cancer Scientists and medical doctors couple math and medicine for unusual, promising marriage Released  August 4, 2008
		Supercapacitors Could Be Key to a Green Energy Future John Chmiola, a doctoral student at Drexel University, is doing groundbreaking work on supercapacitors Released  July 30, 2008
		Atlantic Coral Reefs Are No Match for This Lion Scientists detail the extensive damage to coral reefs in the Atlantic Ocean caused by invasive lionfish species, warn of potential catastrophe Released  July 29, 2008