Catching a Glimpse of a Black Hole's Fury

Using the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) and a host of international telescope partners, a team of researchers has made the clearest observation yet of innermost region of a black hole.From the observations, astronomers found strong evidence that the enormous jets of particles emitted by supermassive black holes are corkscrewed in a way predicted by theory. The researchers believe the coiling is a result of twisted magnetic fields acting on the ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111487&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

Still Images and Video Available: Lakes of Meltwater Can Crack Greenland's Ice and Contribute to Faster Ice-Sheet Flow

In findings embargoed for release on April 17, National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded researchers investigate the role of surface meltwater on the flow of the Greenland Ice Sheet and outlet glaciers.The research was conducted by glaciologists Sarah Das, of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Ian Joughin, University of Washington and published in a pair of companion papers in the online journal Science Express this week.NSF is making available to the news media b-roll ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111438&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

Attraction at the Atomic Level

Countless romance novels begin with a hero and heroine who initially repel each other, only to find them thrown together in uncomfortable circumstances and ultimately rejoicing as their antagonism switches to ardor.Odd as it seems, this tried-and-true romantic formula may also describe the scintillating secret behind the science of superconductivity--the phenomenon that occurs when materials conduct electricity across huge distances without losing any energy due to resistance from the ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111397&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

National Science Board to Honor Norm Augustine with Prestigious Vannevar Bush Award

The National Science Board (NSB) today announced that Norman R. Augustine will receive its 2008 Vannevar Bush Award for his distinguished public service leadership in science, engineering and technology; for his longstanding commitment to the ethical conduct of business and the engineering profession; and for his extraordinary contributions to the welfare of the nation through his advocacy of science, technology and engineering education as national priorities. The NSB will honor Augustine ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111409&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

Star Wars Exhibition Brings Reality to Fantasy

An exhibit developed by the Museum of Science, Boston, in collaboration with Lucasfilm, Ltd. explores the possibility that some of the robots, vehicles and devices of the Star Wars films are closer to reality than one might think. The exhibition--now at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pa., through May 4--showcases landspeeders, R2D2 and other icons as engineering design challenges and highlights how researchers are currently pursuing similar ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111453&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

National Science Foundation Announces Graduate Research Fellows for 2008

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced this year's Graduate Research Fellows (GRF), who represent a diverse group of scientific disciplines and regions of the country. They are also a diverse group of individuals. Among the 913 awardees, 490 are women, 133 are from underrepresented minority groups, and 31 are people with disabilities.The GRF program, the oldest of NSF's programs, makes awards directly to graduate students rather than to universities. As such, the awards ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111452&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

Geologists Discover New Way of Estimating Size and Frequency of Meteorite Impacts

Scientists have developed a new way of determining the size and frequency of meteorites that have collided with Earth.Their work shows that the size of the meteorite that likely plummeted to Earth at the time of the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary 65 million years ago was four to six kilometers in diameter. The meteorite was the trigger, scientists believe, for the mass extinction of dinosaurs and other life forms.François Paquay, a geologist at the University of ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111412&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

Picture This: Explaining Science Through Drawings

If a picture is worth a thousand words, creating one can have as much value to the illustrator as to the intended audience. This is the case with "Picturing to Learn," a project in which college students create pencil drawings to explain scientific concepts to a typical high school student. The National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Undergraduate Education, provides support for this effort.What sets this project apart is its emphasis on inviting students to draw in ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111410&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

Forecasters Implement New Hurricane-Tracking Technique

A new technique that helps forecasters continuously monitor landfalling hurricanes, giving them frequent and detailed images of a storm's location, will be implemented this summer.The new system, developed by National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, D.C., will be implemented at the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The technique, known as ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111407&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

And the First Animal on Earth Was a ...

A new study mapping the evolutionary history of animals indicates that Earth's first animal--a mysterious creature whose characteristics can only be inferred from fossils and studies of living animals--was probably significantly more complex than previously believed. The study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is the cover story of the April 10, 2008 issue of Nature. Using new high-powered technologies for analyzing massive volumes of genetic data, ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111408&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

NSF to Bestow Waterman Award to UCLA's 'Mozart of Math'

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is proud to announce that 32-year-old Terence Tao, a professor of mathematics at the University of California at Los Angeles, will receive its 2008 Alan T. Waterman Award. Called a "supreme problem-solver," and named one of "the Brilliant 10" scientists by Popular Science (October 2006), Tao's extraordinary work, much of which has been funded by NSF through the years, has had a tremendous impact across several mathematical ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111401&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

Misery, Not Miserly

Off to buy a new handbag and fabulous red shoes, or how about overalls and a riding lawnmower? Before going, a mood check for signs of despair and gloom might be in order because how a person feels can impact routine economic transactions, whether he or she is aware of it or not.So says a team of behavioral scientists from four major U.S. universities, whose research study finds that sadness impacts spending. Specifically, people who feel sad and self-focused pay more money for goods ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111225&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

Money Doesn't Grow on Trees, But Gasoline Might

Researchers have made a breakthrough in the development of "green gasoline," a liquid identical to standard gasoline yet created from sustainable biomass sources like switchgrass and poplar trees.Reporting in the cover article of the April 7, 2008 issue of Chemistry & Sustainability, Energy & Materials (ChemSusChem), chemical engineer and National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER awardee George Huber of the University ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111392&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

NSF Advances TeraGrid Computing Capacity with $65 Million Grant to Build Kraken

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $65 million grant to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) to develop Kraken, a state of the art supercomputer. Kraken will enhance the computational power of the TeraGrid, the world's largest, most powerful and comprehensive distributed cyberinfrastructure for open scientific research. "Like the gargantuan sea monsters Kraken, which inspired the naming of this supercomputer, the possibilities in scientific and ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111367&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

New Data Show Strong Labor Market for Scientists and Engineers

Science and engineering workforce availability in the United States is under serious scrutiny by observers who worry about a decline in the nation's ability to fill future demand. However, three newly published National Science Foundation (NSF) reports show increasing supplies of scientists and engineers, as well as a strong labor market. According to NSF data, the number of individuals working in science and engineering (S&E) occupations ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111369&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

Emission Reduction Assumptions for Carbon Dioxide Overly Optimistic, Study Says

Reducing global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) over the coming century will be more challenging than society has been led to believe, according to a research commentary appearing this week in the journal Nature.The authors, from the University of Colorado at Boulder, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, and McGill University in Montreal, said the technological challenges of reducing CO2 emissions have been significantly ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111348&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

National Science Board Names 2008 Public Service Award Winners

The National Science Board (NSB) today announced its 2008 Public Service Award Winners: the Bayer Corporation and SAE International. NSB will honor the awardees for increasing the public understanding of science and engineering at a black tie dinner and ceremony on May 6, 2008, at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. BayerThe NSB is paying tribute to Bayer for its long-standing and exemplary commitment to science public outreach, science education ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111368&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

New Star Systems First of Their Kind

Researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced today in Astrophysical Journal Letters that they have discovered a faraway binary star system that could be the progenitor of a rare type of supernova.The two yellow stars, which orbit each other and even share a large amount of stellar material, resemble a peanut. The Ohio State University astronomers and their colleagues believe the two stars in the system, 13 million light years away and tucked inside a ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111349&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

Small is Big During NanoDays

April 2008 witnesses the launch of two efforts--with major funding from the National Science Foundation--that are intended to promote understanding of nanotechnology among the general public. Nanotechnology is the art and science of manipulating matter at the nanoscale (down to 1/100,000 the width of a human hair) to create new and unique materials and products. It is also the subject of "Nanotechnology: The Power of Small," a three-part, in-depth

Is Graphene the New Silicon?

Research results from University of Maryland physicists show that graphene, a new material that combines aspects of semiconductors and metals, could be a leading candidate to replace silicon in applications ranging from high-speed computer chips to biochemical sensors. The research, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and published online in the journal Nature Nanotechnolgy, reveals that graphene conducts electricity at room temperature with less intrinsic ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111341&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.