National Science Foundation (NSF)’s Post

"The sediments are a sort of epic poem of the earth. When we are wise enough, perhaps we can read in them all of past history. For all is written here." – Rachel Carson, "The Sea Around Us," 1950. Since the mid-20th century, scientists have been collecting deep-sea sediment cores from our world’s ocean. Extending upwards of 90 feet in length, these cores are uniquely composed of sediments and tiny fossils, which offer clues into the history of Earth's climate — and its future. In an award-winning documentary, #NSFfunded filmmakers follow the Baffin Bay Deglacial Experiment team on their research expedition to the coast of Greenland. There, they drilled the seafloor for sediment cores, aiming to uncover the mechanisms that drove the destabilization of the Greenland Ice Sheet and its accelerated retreat at the close of the last ice age, roughly 15,000 years ago. By analyzing the layers of these cores — which will be stored and curated for future generations of scientists — the researchers can veritably read the pages of Earth's climate history, gaining deeper insight into processes like ice melt and sea-level rise, which are key to understanding the impacts of climate change today. To watch the film and learn more, visit: https://bit.ly/4cDjXpC 📷: Erin Towns (PolarTREC 2022), Courtesy of ARCUS

NSF has been bustling with activity in recent weeks, achieving many significant milestones. NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan welcomed Phoenix, Arizona Mayor Kate Gallego to NSF headquarters. Their discussions centered around collaboration opportunities with the Conference of Mayors, exploring how NSF's initiatives can align with and support local and regional priorities. This meeting highlighted NSF's dedication to engaging with municipal leaders to foster innovation and stimulate economic growth at the local level. NSF continues to support innovative research and foster a diverse and inclusive scientific community through various initiatives. The agency recently announced a new round of the Expanding AI Innovation through Capacity Building and Partnerships (ExpandAI) awards to foster diversity and inclusion within the AI research community. In collaboration with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, USDA, United States Department of Defense and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), NSF is supporting seven groundbreaking projects aimed at enhancing AI research and education at minority-serving institutions and historically Black colleges and universities. NSF announced a $35 million award through the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Incubators for STEM Excellence Research Infrastructure Improvement (E-RISE RII) to transform research capacity and competitiveness. E-RISE RII is channeling significant investments into Maine, Mississippi, South Dakota, New Mexico and Kentucky to build research capacity, create workforce development opportunities and enhance STEM research infrastructure. NSF has begun construction on the Leadership-Class Computing Facility (LCCF), a cutting-edge facility led by the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin that will revolutionize computational research and development. LCCF is envisioned as a distributed computational facility to enable transformative discoveries for broad classes of curiosity-driven and use-inspired applications. The project includes a range of education and public outreach plans to grow the future science and engineering workforce. These recent activities and announcements underscore NSF's pursuit of innovation, collaboration and inclusivity in the scientific community.

What allows sharks to shoot through the water like torpedoes? Besides powerful tails and muscular bodies, shark skin, or denticles, play a huge role in the ferocious speeds they can reach — mako sharks have been clocked at more than 70 km/h! ⌚ Denticles are tiny 3D structures that are unique in the underwater world since they have shown an ability to modulate the water flow around the shark's skin, reducing drag — a major performance advantage in ocean currents. The mechanisms of how they work have perplexed scientists for decades, until now. #NSFfunded Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Infrastructure Improvement Track-4: NSF Fellowship researchers from the University of Mississippi Benjamin Savino and Wen Wu created a virtual model of shark skin covered by anvil-shaped denticles and found something surprising. They simulated the flow of fluid over 3D denticle models and saw that shark skin generates thrust in the direction of motion. "Sharks may have a strategy to maintain a mild curvature and thus prolong reverse pore thrust generation," says Savino and Wu. "This offers an exciting new strategy for drag reduction." Learn more about what they discovered about the mechanisms of denticles: https://bit.ly/3WlLG8z #sharkweek #sharkreserach #sharkconservation

Sila Nanotechnologies, Inc., an #NSFfunded startup based in California, develops lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and consumer electronics. Unlike traditional methods of using graphite anodes for lithium-ion batteries, Sila replaces graphite with silicon, a more sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective material. The company developed the Titan Silicon, a nano-composite silicon anode that can store 10 times more charge than graphite at a lower cost, according to Sila. Sila recently raised $375 million in funding, which will help secure the completion of their new plant in the first quarter of 2025 at Moses Lake, Washington. The first two customers for the Titan Silicon are Mercedes-Benz USA/and Panasonic North America. 👏🏼 For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3W3scnT. #NSFSBIR 📸: Sila

Event alert! Join NSF and NIH for the second "Smart Health" symposium. Discover how engineering analytics create tailored solutions for critical biomedical issues. 🏥🔬 🗓️ Tuesday, July 16, 2024 ⏰ 3 - 4 p.m. EDT. Register now: https://bit.ly/3S38Xtm To learn more, visit the Smart Health program: https://bit.ly/3WfHbfE #NSF #NIH #BiomedicalResearch #AI #Engineering #NSFfunded

Major announcement from Texas! 🤟🏼 NSF has begun construction on the Leadership-Class Computing Facility (LCCF), a cutting-edge facility led by the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin that will revolutionize computational research and development. LCCF is envisioned as a distributed computational facility to enable transformative discoveries for broad classes of curiosity-driven and use-inspired science and engineering applications. The project also includes a wide range of education and public outreach plans to grow the future science and engineering workforce and ensure that the nation benefits from access to the facility. "LCCF represents a pivotal step forward in our mission to support transformative research across all fields of science and engineering," said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. "This facility will provide the computational resources necessary to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time, enabling researchers to push the boundaries of what is possible." Read more about this exciting new facility: https://bit.ly/3WhmJLb 📷: TACC

Need another reason to be fascinated by sharks? Sharks are all teeth. No, really. Their skin is made up of teeth! 🦷 Their bodies are covered in flat V-shaped scales called denticles, or "skin teeth," that are coated in enamel and have a dentin layer, pulp cavity and blood vessels. Three students went to study sharks for eight weeks this summer through the Research Experience for Undergraduates program Accessible Sharks, at Harvard University. Scientists from Yale University, the University of Florida and Smith College participated. Dakota Law from Smith College is particularly interested in denticles because they help reduce drag when sharks are swimming, allowing them to effortlessly glide through the water. Over the summer, Law learned how to use different kinds of technology to analyze skin samples and collect data on movement. The NSF Accessible Sharks program is an internship program that supports undergraduate students with disabilities to participate in interdisciplinary summer research on sharks. Learn more about Law's work and the other NSF students' research: https://bit.ly/45UMAfr #sharkweek #sharkresearch

How is artificial intelligence improving weather forecasting? ☔ Boston startup GreenSight developed the WeatherHive using a unique sensing technology that deploys 10 nano-sized drones into the air to help forecast the weather. These fully autonomous nano drones, called WISPs, collect real-time atmospheric measurements, including temperature, humidity, pressure and wind currents. GreenSight recently partnered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) National Weather Service (@noaa-nws). “WeatherHive has enormous potential to benefit the weather forecasting community and the nation as a whole, enhancing forecast accuracy to enable better planning and save lives,” said James Peverill, CEO and co-founder of GreenSight. "We are looking forward to collaborating with NOAA and working closely with the NWS in Tulsa.” For more information, please visit https://bit.ly/3xRwdDG. #NSFSBIR 📸: GreenSight

Calling all researchers in chemistry, atomic, molecular and optical physics, and condensed matter research: The NSF National Extreme Ultrafast Science Facility at The Ohio State University will soon begin accepting applications for access to their laser equipment and facilities that use ultrafast laser pulses to study how electrons move in molecules and materials. You can attend a free online workshop on July 23 at 9-11 a.m. EDT to learn about the facility's capabilities and how to request access. To register: https://bit.ly/3xBXj1G.

Between 70 and 100 miles off the coasts of southern British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and northern California lies the Cascadia subduction zone: a 600-mile-long strip hosting a “megathrust” fault capable of generating 9.0+ magnitude earthquakes and tsunamis 100 feet high. To bring this hazardous fault into sharper focus, a team of NSF-funded researchers led by Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory used seismic instruments to “peer” under the seafloor, characterizing the geometry of the overlying sediments of the subducting Juan de Fuca plate, as well as the structure of the overriding North American plate. The team discovered that the megathrust fault is not one continuous structure but rather four segments, each potentially unaffected by movements from the others. This means that movement on one of the segments could be buffered from movement on another. Insights like this can help scientists forecast probabilities of multiple earthquake scenarios, which in turn helps authorities who design building codes and warning systems minimize natural hazard damage and ultimately save lives. To learn more, visit: https://bit.ly/3RWGAwI 📸: Courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey