NSF-Wide Investments--Images

		Adaptive Systems Technology Artificial retina device, consisting of a glasses-mounted camera and microchip that is surgically implanted on the retina. Credit: Dr. Wentai Liu
		NSF Centers Programs and Funding A fluorescent dye injected into a tank of stirred liquid creates a pattern that resembles a green apple. The demonstration, conducted by Rutgers researchers from the NSF Engineering Research Center on Structured Organic Composites, shows how liquids mix in a typical pharmaceutical manufacturing operation. Engineers will use such studies to help drug makers improve product uniformity. Credit: M. M. Alvarez, T. Shinbrot, F. J. Muzzio, Rutgers University, Center for Structured Organic Composites
		Climate Change Science Program The influx of fresh water from Arctic climate change is impacting seasonal fisheries and plankton cycles. Ecosystems along the continental shelf waters of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean--from the Labrador Sea south of Greenland all the way to North Carolina--are experiencing large, rapid changes, NSF-supported oceanographers reported in the Feb. 23, 2007, issue of the journal Science. Credit: JupiterImages
		Cyber-enabled Discovery and Innovation To offer a new way of looking at molecular structure, the RCSB Protein Data Bank (PDB) and CalIT2 have released the first version of CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment) software for visualizing 3D macromolecular structures in an immersive, virtual reality environment. The CAVE offers a room-sized space for users to interact with high-resolution video. Wearing stereoglasses, the viewer can move through and around a structure that is projected in the CAVE. Credit: Wolfgang Bluhm
		Cyberinfrastructure The Linked Environments for Atmospheric Discovery (LEAD) initiative is an $11.25 million, 5-year project to dramatically improve the ability to provide timely warnings of severe weather events by developing the dynamic computing and networking infrastructure required for on-demand detection, simulation and prediction of high-impact local weather such as thunderstorms. Shown here is a visualization generated from forecast data from the Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms (CAPS) at the University of Oklahoma. Credit: Kelvin Droegemeier, CAPS director; NCSA
		Dynamics of Water Processes in the Environment Both tropical rainfall and magnetism are described by the mathematics of "self-organized criticality." Credit: Pacific Worlds
		National Nanotechnology Initiative Rice University’s "nanocars," only a few atoms wide, roll across a gold surface on single-molecule wheels. This research received center support from NSF's Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at Penn State. Credit: Yasuhiro Shirai, Rice University
		Networking and Information Technology R&D EarthScope is one of an eventual network of 400 seismographic stations that will spread across the United States, making observations at more than 2,000 geographic locations to map the structure and composition of North America. The photo shows Peter Gray welding one of five GPS stations on the flanks of Mount St. Helens in Washington state. The stations will precisely monitor deformation associated with magma movement within the volcano. Credit: Earthscope
		Science and Engineering Beyond Moore's Law Substitution of magnetic atoms (manganese) into a semiconductor (gallium arsenide) creates the material for future electronics. Spins of the magnetic atoms interact via a cloud of electrons, which can be visualized using a scanning tunneling microscope. The image is a composite of microscopic visualization of electron cloud together with a model of the gallium arsenide crystal structure. Credit: A. Yazdani, Princeton University
		Selected Crosscutting Programs Participants in the InSTEP (Integrated Science Teaching Enhancement Partnership) Program--part of NSF's Graduate Fellowships in K-12 Education (GK-12) Program--make observations using a microscope. The GK-12 program is designed to foster student interest in science while boosting teacher confidence in integrated science content and inquiry-based instruction. Credit: InSTEP Program, Florida Institute of Technology

Back to the brief descriptions of NSF-Wide Investments in the current budget.

NSF-WIDE INVESTMENTS IN PREVIOUS BUDGET YEARS

NSF has designated special areas of emphasis or priority areas in previous budget years. A select list of materials from previous years is available here.