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.
![Photo of researchers collecting microbial biofilms in the Frasassi cave system, central Italy.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/macalady1_l.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
Caves Reveal Evolution of Ancient Microbes Jenn Macalady's geomicrobiology group is discovering the rules that enable microbes living in dark, oxygen-free environments to adapt and evolve Released
March 27, 2009
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![Photo of Michael Loranty wiring one of many sap flow sensors in the aspen stand.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/forest_water1_l.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
Taking the Pulse of the Forest Michael Loranty describes 'wiring' a forest for research to determine how much water the trees use Released
March 18, 2009
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![Eight thumbnail images and 2008 in Review](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/2008_review_l.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
2008: Year in Review A look back at some of the NSF-supported advances and activities that made news last year Released
March 13, 2009
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![Illustration of dinosaurs dying amid a volcanic eruption.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/dinosaur_volcano1_l.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
Volcanoes, Not Asteroid, May Have Taken Out the Dinosaurs New theory of dinosaurs’ demise looks to India Released
December 8, 2008
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![Photo of skeletal reconstruction of Majungasaurus, a Late Cretaceous dinosaur from Madagascar.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/mad_fossil1_l.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
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
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![Ilustration of a crater formed from the impact of a comet or asteroid in Chesapeake Bay.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/ches_impact1_l.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
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
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![Photo of mountains in China that flank the Min River near the epicenter of the Wenchuan quake.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/china_quake_l.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
Long Wait Before Next China Quake? May 12 earthquake rare and unexpected, geologists discover Released
July 10, 2008
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![Striped fossil feather and recent woodpecker feather show melanosomes in dark, but not light, areas.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/fossil_feather_l.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
Fossil Feathers Preserve Evidence of Color Organic material reveals remnants of color pigments Released
July 10, 2008
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![Photo of insect mine on a 53 million-year-old fossil from Wyoming's Bighorn Basin.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/bighorn_basin1_l2.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
Hunt for Fossils Finds Warning for Warming Earth Graduate student Ellen Currano provides a glimpse of paleontological fieldwork, describing how she collects fossil leaves for research studying the effects of climate change on plants and insect herbivores Released
May 27, 2008
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![2007 In Review](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/2007_review_text_l.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
2007: Year in Review A look back at some of the NSF-supported advances and activities reported last year Released
January 30, 2008
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![Photo shows Anne Sheehan when she traveled to Nepal.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/sheehan_1_l1.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
Risky Science at the Top of the World Geology Professor Anne Sheehan recounts obstacles faced doing research in Nepal in September 2001 Released
January 2, 2008
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![Photo shows the aerial view of the Somma-Vesuvius volcano.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/vesuvius_1_l.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
Feverish Effort Under Way to Understand Mt. Vesuvius Geologist Lucia Gurioli tells how a life-long interest in the A.D. 79 eruption led to her research interest in Vesuvius' volcanic processes Released
December 12, 2007
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![Yellowstone National Park's caldera, a remnant of an ancient volcano, is rising.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/CalderaRim.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
Yellowstone Rising Volcano inflating with molten rock at record rate Released
November 13, 2007
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![Photo of rock with arrow pointing to "black mat" of algal growth](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/kennett2_l.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
Comet May Have Exploded Over North America 13,000 Years Ago Caused wooly mammoth extinction, global cooling and end of early human Clovis culture Released
August 14, 2007
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![An artist's rendition of the proposed Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory design.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/dusel_2_l.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
Team Selected for the Proposed Design of the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory
Released
July 10, 2007
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![2006 in Review](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/2006inreview_l.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
2006: Year in Review A look back at some of the NSF-supported activities highlighted last year Released
January 9, 2007
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![Two researchers hover over field notes.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/ostromfield2_l.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
Molecules Are Fossils, Too Paleoproteomics lends fresh insight into ancient bones Released
May 17, 2006
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![Landscape view with vegetation digitally removed on right; present on left](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/life1_l.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
Life Leaves Subtle Signature on Lay of the Land Living things bring out the planet's softer side Released
January 31, 2006
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![Illustration comparing two theories behind the Rio Grande rifting.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/rio_grande_rift_l1.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
Deeper View Helps Explain Rio Grande Rift Subsurface revealed down to the Earth's mantle Released
March 1, 2005
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![Earth's inner core](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/earthscore_l.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
Earth's Core Spins Faster than Earth The motion of the Earth's inner core had never been detected before two seismologists decided to investigate an unproven theory. They discovered that the fast-spinning inner core makes a complete revolution inside the Earth in about 400 years. Released
July 30, 2004
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![several views of pterosaur skulls](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/pterosaur_skulls_l.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
Pterosaur Heads Were Uniquely Adapted for Flight Taking a high-tech look at fossil skulls, scientists examined the brains of ancient pterosaurs. They found key structures to be specialized and enlarged, a discovery that could revise views of how vision, flight and the brain itself evolved. Released
July 30, 2004
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
![Generic Discovery Image](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/images/disc_generic.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
Deeply Buried Sediments Tell Story of Sudden Mass Extinction Two international teams of researchers recover evidence of a large meteorite that impacted Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula 65 million years ago. Released
June 25, 2003
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508024125im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) |
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