Program Provides Blueprint for Recruiting Minorities to Science and Engineering

The Model Institutions for Excellence Program (MIE) funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has developed a body of work over the past 11 years demonstrating successful strategies for recruiting underrepresented minority students to science and engineering fields and supporting their successful completion of science degrees.Five minority-serving institutions--Bowie State University in Maryland, Spelman College More ...

NSF and Department of Homeland Security Partner to Drive Frontier Research in Nuclear Detection

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Engineering and the Department of Homeland Security Domestic Nuclear Detection Office announced they are awarding 25 grants to support fundamental research in nuclear science and engineering, studies that will help strengthen nuclear detection efforts well into the future.The awards, funded through the Academic Research Initiative (ARI) program, will bolster radiological and nuclear detection studies at 23 un More ...

Nutrient Pollution Drives Frog Deformities by Ramping Up Infections

High levels of nutrients used in farming and ranching activities fuel parasite infections that have caused highly publicized frog deformities in ponds and lakes across North America, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder.The study showed increased levels of nitrogen and phosphorus cause sharp hikes in the abundance and reproduction of a snail species that hosts microscopic parasites known as trematodes, said Pieter Johnson of the University of Co More ...

"Earth & Sky" Launches Spanish-language Radio Series

While Hispanic-Americans make up a large and growing percentage of the U.S. population, they fall behind other minorities in choosing science as a career. To attract more Hispanics to the sciences, the producers of one of the longest-running science radio shows, "Earth & Sky," is launching a Spanish-language version on September 24. A major grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) is making it possible to produce 600 one-minute science radio spots in Spanish over More ...

There Goes the Neighborhood: Interbreeding Between Invasive and Native Salamander Species Creating Hardy Hybrids Likely to Replace Parental Populations

Interbreeding between the California Tiger Salamander--which is a native, endangered species--and the invasive Barred Tiger Salamander has produced a swarm of hybrid salamanders that is more likely to survive than either parent species, according to a new study.Found in Salinas, California, the swarm of hybridized salamanders may comprise the first population of sustainable hybrids created by an interbreeding involving an endangered species, and is among the first known sustainable pop More ...

Nanomaterials with a Bright Future

An innovative and inexpensive way of making nanomaterials on a large scale has resulted in novel forms of advanced materials that pave the way for exceptional and unexpected optical properties. The new fabrication technique, known as soft lithography, or SIL, offers many significant advantages over existing techniques, including the ability to scale-up the manufacturing process to produce devices in large quantities. The research, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) an More ...

Can a Robot Get High School Students Interested in Studying Science and Engineering in College?

In a paper presented last week at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers conference in Las Vegas, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania outlined an effective way of getting students interested and excited about science and engineering--teaching them how to design, build and operate robots. This approach is a departure from traditional science and engineering education methods, and it suggests a new way of getting students attracted to these fields early in their acad More ...

Scientists Use the "Dark Web" to Snag Extremists and Terrorists Online

Terrorists and extremists have set up shop on the Internet, using it to recruit new members, spread propaganda and plan attacks across the world. The size and scope of these dark corners of the Web are vast and disturbing. But in a non-descript building in Tucson, a team of computational scientists are using the cutting-edge technology and novel new approaches to track their moves online, providing an invaluable tool in the global war on terror.Funded by the National Science Fo More ...

Einstein Fellows Begin Year at National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is host to eight math and science teachers from elementary and secondary schools around the country who have begun the new school year as participants in the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program.These teachers would like to bring to NSF a sense of "what the kids are thinking," and a slice of life in the classroom where it can be challenging to attract kids to math and sc More ...

Acid Rain Has Disproportionate Impact on Near-Shore Ocean Waters

The release of sulfur and nitrogen into the atmosphere by power plants and agricultural activities--commonly referred to as acid rain--plays a minor role in making the ocean more acidic on a global scale, but the impact is greatly amplified in the shallower waters of the coastal oceans, according to new research.The most heavily affected areas tend to be downwind of power plants (particularly coal-fired plants) and predominantly on the eastern edges of North America, Europe, an More ...

Change from Arid to Wet Climate in Africa Altered Early Human Evolution

A drastic change in the climate of tropical Africa may have significantly driven early human evolution, an international team of scientists has found. The results are published online this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Among the findings is that a transition from a time period with extreme droughts (135,000 to 75,000 years ago) to a stable, wetter climate may have stimulated the expansion and migration of early human populations.

Dinosaur Fossil Shows Signs of Early Flight Mechanism

An 80-million-year-old dinosaur fossil unearthed in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia demonstrates that miniaturization, long thought to be a hallmark of bird origins and a necessary precursor of flight, occurred progressively in primitive dinosaurs. The find, described in the September 7 issue of the journal Science, is made up of the fossilized bones of a new dinosaur the researchers have named Mahakala, and includes portions of its skull, forelimb and hindlimb, as well as much o More ...

Moray Eels Are Uniquely Equipped to Pack Big Prey Into Their Narrow Bodies

How do long, slender snake-like creatures manage to stuff large, struggling prey into their narrow mouths and down their throats without using paws or claws? A new study reveals that the slender, snake-like moray eel--which may reach up to about nine feet in length--captures and consumes its prey (usually large fish, octopuses and squid) with a unique strategy that involves using two sets of jaws. According to the study, the moray eel starts feeding by seizing its prey in the jaws of More ...

Scientists Find Elusive Waves in Solar Corona

Scientists for the first time have observed elusive oscillations in the sun's corona, known as Alfvén waves, that transport energy outward from the surface of the sun. The discovery may give researchers more insight into solar magnetic fields, eventually leading to a better understanding of how the sun affects Earth's atmosphere and the entire solar system. The research, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and led by Steve Tomczyk of the National Center for Atmosphe More ...

One Species' Genome Discovered Inside Another Species' Genome

A team of researchers has discovered that a bacterial parasite (called Wolbachia) can insert almost its entire genome into the genomes of members of one host species (a fly called Drosophila ananassae), and can insert parts of its genome into the genomes of members of several other host species. "We've found at least one species where the parasite's entire or nearly entire genome has been absorbed and integrated into the host's," says Jack Werren of the Uni More ...

New Approach Encourages Engineers to Pursue Paradigm Shifts

To advance research at the furthest frontiers of science and engineering, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has created a new office for funding high-risk, interdisciplinary projects that have the potential for transforming entire engineering fields to address critical societal problems. The Office of Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) in the Directorate for Engineering announced its first 12 grants today, a total commitment of nearly $24 million over four years More ...

Powerful Tool Crunches Commutes

As the holidays approach and travelers hit the roads, traffic congestion becomes a hot topic around the country, even in places where rush hour is not very rushed at all. Websites for travelers are nothing new, but researchers in Sunnyvale, Calif., have developed an advanced system with a twist: in addition to tracking traffic congestion, the program crunches data from 14,000 sensors, in some cases every 30 seconds, to decipher evolving rush-hour patterns. The end result is

Volcanic Activity Key to Oxygen-rich Atmosphere

Next time you catch a breath, be thankful, for a change, that the Earth's surface is dotted with volcanoes. National Science Foundation-funded research published this week in the journal Nature indicates that billions of years ago, when the Earth was home largely to undersea volcanoes, some previously unknown agent was removing the gas. The researchers suggest that mixture of gases and lavas produced by submarine volcanoes scrubbed oxygen from the atmosphere and bound More ...

Back to School: Five Myths about Girls and Science

The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Research on Gender in Science and Engineering (GSE) program seeks to broaden the participation of girls and women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education fields by supporting research, the diffusion of research-based innovations, and extension services in education that will lead to a larger and more diverse domestic science and engineering workforce. Though the program's name has changed over the years, it has been More ...

Light Brings Out the Worst in Some Disease-Causing Bacteria

A new study shows that some types of bacteria can sense light, and that exposing one type of disease-causing bacterium--the Brucellosis bacterium--to light increases its capacity to infect humans and livestock. This study represents the first time that light has been shown to play a role in bacterial virulence (infection). Brucellosis bacteria "have been very well studied for years, and no one knew they could sense light," said Trevor Swartz of the Universi More ...