Biological Sciences (BIO) 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.

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		Exploring the Mysteries of the Ocean Floor Scientists travel to the seafloor to learn how deep sea organisms use the sun-less chemical environment to thrive Released  October 14, 2009
		Tiny Bacteria Are Secret to Cicada's Success Some common life forms, like cicadas, depend on complex symbiotic relationships with specialized microbes to produce essential nutrients Released  August 14, 2009
		West Nile Virus: The Search for Answers in Chicago’s Suburbs The pattern of West Nile virus in Chicago’s suburbs may hold the answers to understanding this disease Released  August 11, 2009
		How Penguins & Seals Survive Deep Dives Jessica Meir goes to extreme environments to learn how birds and mammals thrive in conditions that humans cannot tolerate, and she tells readers all about it Released  July 31, 2009
		Life Underground Critical to Earth's Ecosystems Scientists travel 'down the rabbit hole' for new view of subterranean biodiversity Released  July 29, 2009
		Bugs: The Forgotten Victims of Climate Change Researchers consider the impact of relocating species to new environments to save insects from global warming Released  July 21, 2009
		Putting the Heat on Tropical Lizards Climate change has a significant impact on tropical lizards and their ecosystems Released  July 13, 2009
		Unlocking the Secrets and Powers of the Brain Leading minds in neuroscience discuss what we know about how our brains work and where the field is headed Released  June 15, 2009
		Journal Spotlights Research on Marine Microbes Funded by National Science Foundation The authors of all five articles included in Nature's recent special section on microbial oceanography have received NSF funding Released  May 29, 2009
		Hunting for Life in Rocks Beneath the Seas University of Southern California geobiologist Katrina Edwards describes research to find and characterize microbes in the crust beneath the deep sea Released  May 8, 2009
		Heat-tolerant Crops Could Prevent Future Starvation and Help Preserve Biofuels With NSF support, plant molecular biologist L. Curtis Hannah is developing variants of key crops that will produce increased yields under heat stress Released  April 27, 2009
		Changes in Altitude/Changes in Attitude: Scientists and Policymakers Share Views in the Treetops Excursion to a rainforest canopy creates a communication bridge between scientists and policymakers Released  April 13, 2009
		More and More Scientists Serve Up Science for Mass Consumption Scientists use innovative, barrier-busting methods to educate the public and decision-makers about cutting-edge science Released  March 16, 2009
		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
		Guam's Birds Gone: Can Forest Survive? With NSF support, a University of Washington graduate student and her colleagues use 'screen door netting and lots of PVC pipe' to study how the loss of birds affects the dispersal of seeds in Guam's forests Released  January 30, 2009
		Crimes to Climate History: Tiny Diatoms Offer Big Clues NSF-supported botanist Peter Siver of Connecticut College studies microorganisms that shed light on climate change dating back millions of years Released  January 7, 2009
		Unraveling the Wonders of Spider Silk University of California, Riverside researcher Cheryl Hayashi closely studies spiders and spider silk to discover the elusive genetic blueprints for silk making Released  December 9, 2008
		Estimating the True Costs Of Invasive Species in the Great Lakes Graduate student John Rothlisberger describes his research to measure losses caused by non-native species that were introduced by ocean-going ships Released  December 1, 2008
		Batteries Made of Bacteria? Researchers believe the energy produced by Geobacter microbes can be harnessed for electrical power, environmental remediation and biosensors Released  November 19, 2008
		Islands: Exquisite Labs of Evolution Anne Yoder, director of the Duke University Lemur Center, and colleagues are using genetic and genomic approaches to unravel the history of lemurs and the primate family tree Released  November 14, 2008
		'Gone Bats' Over Aeroecology New scientific discipline studies bats, birds and other animals in atmosphere closest to Earth's surface Released  October 28, 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
		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
		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
		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
		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
		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
		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
		Researcher Says Life Evolved Between the Mica Sheets Biophysicist Helen Greenwood Hansma of the University of California, Santa Barbara, on the origin of her new hypothesis for the origins of life Released  July 14, 2008
		Methane Formation in the Oceans: New Pathway Discovered Significant importance for study of greenhouse gas production on Earth Released  July 10, 2008