National Science Foundation - News

An international collaboration at the Michigan State University National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, has demonstrated a new technique for studying particles traveling at one-third the speed of light. The result, which will be published in Physical Review Letters, opens new doors to investigating rare isotopes. The study describes the first successful lifetime measurement--the lifetime of an excited state of germanium-64. More ...

Scientists at the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory have discovered the surprising strength of a sheet of nanoparticles that measures just 50 atoms in thickness. "It's an amazing little marvel," said Heinrich Jaeger, professor of physics at the University of Chicago. "This is not a very fragile layer, but rather a robust, resilient membrane." More ...

Rice University physicists have unveiled an innovative way to learn how proteins get their shape based on how they unfold when pulled apart. The experimental method could be of widespread use in the field of protein folding science. The research is slated to appear in an upcoming issue of Physical Review Letters. It includes a new method scientists can use to map out exactly how much free energy is required throughout the folding process. More ...

Ice loss from glaciers and ice caps is expected to cause more global sea rise during this century than the massive Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, according to a new University of Colorado at Boulder study. More ...

University of Delaware scientists have invented a novel biomaterial with surprising antibacterial properties, that can be injected as a low-viscosity gel into a wound where it rigidifies nearly on contact--opening the door to the possibility of delivering a targeted payload of cells and antibiotics to repair the damaged tissue. More ...

In the evolutionary battle in which plants are trying to beef up their defenses against pathogens, Cornell researchers have discovered a bacterium that infects tomatoes by injecting a special protein into the plant's cells, undermining the plant's defense system. More ...

For the first time, a high-tech forecasting system is providing residents of rural areas of Bangladesh with up to 10 days' notice of potentially deadly floods, including floods that are occurring at present along the Brahmaputra River. Scientists funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and affiliated with the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and Georgia Institute of Technology developed the system. The forecasts are being distributed directly to communit More ...

Using novel light-scattering techniques, researchers have found the first evidence that early stage pancreatic cancer causes subtle changes in part of the small intestine. The easily monitored marker may ultimately allow early detection for a disease notorious for having few obvious symptoms, the primary reason pancreatic cancer killed more than 33,000 Americans last year. The new detection techniques, developed with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), produce an optic More ...

Heavy investments in science and technology during the 1990s by some Asian nations are paying notable economic dividends in high-tech areas important to the United States, according to a recently released report by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Since the mid-1990, Asia's national investment in research and development (R&D) as a share of the total value of goods and services produced grew faster than in the United States or the European Union, according to NSF's Division More ...

Mark Abbott, dean of the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University who was scheduled to become the National Science Foundation's (NSF) assistant director for the Geosciences Directorate (GEO) this fall, has decided not to pursue the GEO position at the agency and will remain at OSU. Abbott, who presently serves on the National Science Board, was due to become the assistant director of GEO in October. Following a review by the Office of Gener More ...