Chem Feed
Billions of gallons of water saved by thinning forests
Find related stories on NSF's Critical Zone Observatories webpage.
There are too many trees in Sierra Nevada forests, say scientists affiliated with the National Science Foundation (NSF) Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory (CZO).
That may come as a surprise to those who see dense, verdant forests as signs of a healthy environment. After all, green is good, right? Not ...
More at https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=245128&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
This is an NSF News item.
How does the brain learn categorization for sounds? The same way it does for images
Categorization, or the recognition that individual objects share similarities and can be grouped together, is fundamental to how we make sense of the world. Previous research has revealed how the brain categorizes images. Now, researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) have discovered that the brain categorizes sounds in much the same way.
The results are published today in the journal Neuron.
"Categorization involves applying a single label to a ...
More at https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=245142&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
This is an NSF News item.
Developmental psychologist receives 2018 Alan T. Waterman Award
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has bestowed the 2018 Alan T. Waterman Award, the nation's highest honor for early career scientists and engineers, on University of Washington (UW) social and developmental psychologist Kristina R. Olson.
The Waterman Award Committee, an external panel of distinguished scientists and engineers chaired by Gary May, Chancellor of the University of California, Davis, and which includes the leadership of the National Academies of Science and ...
More at https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=245107&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
This is an NSF News item.
Mississippi River diversions will produce new land, but more slowly than shoreline is lost
The best solution to sustaining portions of the Mississippi Delta may be river diversions that bring sediment to shrinking coastlines. However, a new study concludes that the rate of land-building will likely be dwarfed by the rate of wetland loss.
"Scientists studied how fast the Mississippi River Delta grew each year before people inhabited the area and began changing the environment," said Justin Lawrence, a program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Earth ...
More at https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=244724&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
This is an NSF News item.
Powering advances in wireless connectivity for the future
The National Science Foundation (NSF) announces an important milestone in its Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) effort. In collaboration with an industry consortium of 28 networking companies and associations, NSF is supporting the development and deployment of the first two PAWR research platforms, based in Salt Lake City and New York City. These ...
More at https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=245045&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
This is an NSF News item.
2018 Community College Innovation Challenge finalists announced
The National Science Foundation (NSF), in partnership with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), has named 10 finalists for the fourth annual Community College Innovation Challenge (CCIC).
CCIC seeks to strengthen entrepreneurial thinking among community college students by challenging them to use science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to find innovative solutions to real-world problems. Each student team works with a faculty mentor and industry ...
More at https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=245059&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
This is an NSF News item.
Soft "vine robots" grow into solutions
Engineers design vine-like, inflatable, plastic bots that can change shape to solve problems
Full story at https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/science_nation/vinerobot.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_51
This is an NSF News item.
NSF announces 2018 winners for Generation Nano: Superheroes Inspired by Science
A solar-powered, fast-charging, high-flying hero named Heliora! A sweet nanoparticle solution that defeats the sugar-blasting nemesis Glycosa! A peppy polymer that transforms into a cell-size, chain-welding hero to battle an antibiotic resistant superbug!
The National Science Foundation (NSF), in partnership with the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), recognized these new science-powered superheroes and more by naming them as the first- and second-place winners and honorable ...
More at https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=244994&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
This is an NSF News item.
New source of global nitrogen discovered: Earths bedrock
For centuries, the thinking has been that all the nitrogen available for plant growth worldwide comes from the atmosphere. But a new study by National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded researchers at the University of California (UC), Davis, shows that more than a quarter of that nitrogen is derived from the weathering of Earth's bedrock.
The results, published this week in the journal Science, demonstrate that up to 26 percent of the nitrogen in ecosystems is sourced from ...
More at https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=244968&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
This is an NSF News item.
Generation Nano Challenge
NSF and NNI aim to promote an understanding and appreciation of nanotechnology and STEM careers in middle and high school students by inviting them to design an original superhero with nanotechnology-enabled gear.
More at https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/gennano/?WT.mc_id=USNSF_51
This is an NSF News item.
Number of doctorates awarded by US institutions in 2016 close to all-time high
U.S. institutions awarded 54,904 research doctorate degrees in 2016, only five fewer than the previous year's record high, according to the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED), a federally sponsored annual census of research degree recipients.
SED provides data for Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities, a report published by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the National Science ...
More at https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=244922&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
This is an NSF News item.
NSF announces Graduate Research Fellowships for 2018
The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) has announced the offer of 2,000 fellowship awards, following a national competition.
The program recruits high-potential, early-career scientists and engineers and supports their graduate research training in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
Launched in 1952 shortly after Congress established NSF, GRFP represents the nation's oldest continuous investment in the ...
More at https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=245024&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
This is an NSF News item.
Experience hands-on science and meet NSF-supported researchers at USA Science and Engineering Festival
Experience hands-on science and meet NSF-supported researchers at USA Science and Engineering Festival
Expo event open to media April 6 on 'Sneak Peek Friday'
Meet scientists from a Nobel Prize-winning astronomy project, view biology specimens and erupting volcanoes through virtual reality, build a pocket microscope, meet creative young science illustrators and much more at the National Science Foundation (NSF) pavilion at the ...
More at https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=245015&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
This is an NSF News item.
NSF supermagnet laboratory receives $184 million renewal
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has renewed support for the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab) with $184 million over the next five years, a funding increase of more than 9 percent over the last funding period.
Guided by NSF's merit review process, the decision followed approval from the National Science Board in August 2017, and brings the agency's total MagLab investment to $867 million.
The NSF-supported National MagLab meets the needs of scientists by ...
More at https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=245040&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
This is an NSF News item.
New study finds worlds largest desert, the Sahara, has grown by 10 percent since 1920
The Sahara Desert has expanded by about 10 percent since 1920, according to a new study by National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded scientists at the University of Maryland (UMD).
The research is the first to assess century-scale changes to the boundaries of the world's largest desert. It suggests that other deserts could be expanding as well. The study is published today in the Journal of Climate.
"The trends in Africa of hot summers getting hotter and rainy seasons ...
More at https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=244804&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
This is an NSF News item.
NSF offers opportunity for media to deploy to Greenland
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is accepting proposals from media professionals to visit research sites in Greenland and Alaska to report on science supported by NSF's Office of Polar Programs (OPP).
NOTES:
- Members of the news media who are already discussing the possibility of visiting a particular project or field camp with individual NSF-funded investigators must submit an application through this process in order that the appropriate ...
More at https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=244923&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
This is an NSF News item.
Data-driven optimization to improve mobile healthcare in disadvantaged communities
Advancing spatial science and predictive analytics to help mobile clinics reach those who need them most
Full story at https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/science_nation/mobilehealthclinics.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_51
This is an NSF News item.
Smart cities and communities conference features NSF-funded researchers working with local community partners
On March 27 and 28, research funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) about the smart cities and communities of the future will be on display at the sixth annual US Ignite Application Summit. NSF sponsors and funds the event which, for the third year in a row, is co-located with the Smart Cities Connect ...
More at https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=244863&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
This is an NSF News item.
Soot transported from elsewhere in world contributes little to melting of some Antarctic glaciers
Airborne soot produced by wildfires and fossil-fuel combustion and transported to the remote McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica contains levels of black carbon too low to contribute significantly to the melting of local glaciers, according to a new study by researchers supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Strong winds in the Dry Valleys, however, can temporarily cause large spikes in the amount of locally produced black carbon, which is distributed through the ...
More at https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=244808&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
This is an NSF News item.
Engineering earthquake resilience in downtown skyscrapers
Building sensors feed new community models to maximize function, minimize disruption after an earthquake
Full story at https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/science_nation/resilienttallbuildings.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_51
This is an NSF News item.