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The Latest Breaking News from the National Science Foundation

Biden helped bring science out of the lab and into the community − emphasizing research focused on solutions

President Joe Biden was inaugurated in January 2021 amid a devastating pandemic, with over 24 million COVID-19 cases and more than 400,000 deaths in the U.S. recorded at that point.

The Conversation

Joe Biden’s record on science and tech: Investments and regulation for vaccines, broadband, microchips and AI

In evaluating the outgoing Biden administration, much news has focused on inflation, immigration or Hunter’s laptop. But as an expert on national competitiveness in science and technology, I have a somewhat different emphasis. My research shows that U.S. prosperity and security depend heavily on the country’s ability to produce cutting-edge…

The Conversation

Can science be both open and secure? Nations grapple with tightening research security as China’s dominance grows

Amid heightened tensions between the United States and China, the two countries signed a bilateral science and technology agreement on Dec. 13, 2024. The event was billed as a “renewal” of a 45-year-old pact to encourage cooperation, but that may be misleading.

The Conversation

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Ferns’ ability to evolve ‘backward’ offers insights into the meandering path of evolution

Imagine a photograph of your great-grandparents, grandparents and parents side by side. You’d see a resemblance, but each generation would look distinct from its predecessors. This is the process of evolution in its simplest form: descent with modification.

The Conversation

Poor teacher training partly to blame for stalled engineering diversity goals

Diversifying the science, technology, engineering and math fields has long been a top priority of many universities and tech companies. It’s also a goal of the National Science Foundation, the biggest funder of university-led research and development in the U.S.

The Conversation

Jails and prisons often fail to protect incarcerated people during natural disasters

The United States has almost 2 million people behind bars in prisons, jails and detention centers – the largest such population in any country. Although incarcerated people are locked away from the outside world, they are even more vulnerable to the impacts of disasters, such as hurricanes and wildfires, than…

The Conversation

Evidence from Snowball Earth found in ancient rocks on Colorado’s Pikes Peak – it’s a missing link

Around 700 million years ago, the Earth cooled so much that scientists believe massive ice sheets encased the entire planet like a giant snowball. This global deep freeze, known as Snowball Earth, endured for tens of millions of years.

The Conversation

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4 years after the giant Arecibo Observatory collapsed, we finally know what happened

The Arecibo Observatory collapsed in 2020, and a new report suggests a zinc decay was to blame for its death.

Space

Disaster survivors want to rebuild safer, more sustainable homes, but cost misperceptions often stand in the way

As Florida and the Southeast begin recovering from 2024’s destructive hurricanes, many people are asking: How can we rebuild sustainably and in a way that avoids the same damage, costs and trauma in future storms?

The Conversation

Microplastics promote cloud formation, with likely effects on weather and climate

Clouds form when water vapor – an invisible gas in the atmosphere – sticks to tiny floating particles, such as dust, and turns into liquid water droplets or ice crystals. In a newly published study, we show that microplastic particles can have the same effects, producing ice crystals at temperatures…

The Conversation

Wild animals can experience trauma and adversity too − as ecologists, we came up with an index to track how it affects them

Psychologists know that childhood trauma, or the experience of harmful or adverse events, can have lasting repercussions on the health and well-being of people well into adulthood. But while the consequences of early adversity have been well researched in humans, people aren’t the only ones who can experience adversity.

The Conversation

Coastal cities have a hidden vulnerability to storm-surge and tidal flooding − entirely caused by humans

Centuries ago, estuaries around the world were teeming with birds and turbulent with schools of fish, their marshlands and endless tracts of channels melting into the gray-blue horizon.

The Conversation

‘Cajun Navy’ volunteers who participate in search-and-rescue operations after hurricanes are forming long-lasting organizations

The volunteers who take part in search-and-rescue operations and then support disaster survivors belong to organizations that have become more formal and established over the past decade. That’s what we found after spending more than four years volunteering alongside eight of these groups to better understand their role and the…

The Conversation

Trump and Harris are sharply divided on science, but share common ground on US technology policy

For the first time in American history, quantum computing was mentioned by a candidate during a presidential debate, on Sept. 10, 2024. After Vice President Kamala Harris brought up quantum technology, she and former President Donald Trump went on to have a heated back-and-forth about American chipmaking and China’s rise…

The Conversation

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How the Middle East conflict could influence the US election – and why Arab Americans in swing states might vote for Trump

As we near the first anniversary of the October 7 attack on Israel, the conflict in the Middle East has escalated significantly. Iran just launched nearly 200 missiles on Israel, and Israel has continued its fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas in Gaza.

The Conversation

In storms like Hurricane Helene, flooded industrial sites and toxic chemical releases are a silent and growing threat

Hundreds of industrial facilities with toxic pollutants were in Hurricane Helene’s path as the powerful storm flooded communities across the Southeast in late September 2024.

The Conversation

Empowering engineering students through storytelling

Stories of self-doubt are common among engineering students. That was a key finding of a study conducted recently at Boise State University by a team of researchers.

The Conversation

Making fuels from plastics in Newaygo, Michigan, would be controversial – here’s why

Humans generate a lot of plastic waste – more than 400 million metric tons a year.

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The Conversation

I’ve visited the same Rocky Mountain subalpine meadow weekly for a decade of summers looking at plant-pollinator interactions – here’s what I learned

Imagine a bee crawling into a bright yellow flower.

The Conversation

Humans infecting animals infecting humans − from COVID-19 to bird flu, preventing pandemics requires protecting all species

When the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020, humans had been the only species with reported cases of the disease. While early genetic analyses pointed to horseshoe bats as the evolutionary hosts of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, no reports had yet surfaced indicating…

The Conversation

The workhorse ship of ocean drilling may have made its last voyage – here’s why scientists don’t want to see the JOIDES Resolution mothballed

My favorite place in the world isn’t a fixed location. It’s the JOIDES Resolution, an internationally funded research ship that has spent its service life constantly on the move, from deep in the Antarctic to high in the Arctic.

The Conversation

Americans love nature but don’t feel empowered to protect it, new research shows

Climate change has been in the news for more than 40 years. It’s typically covered as a scientific or political issue. However, social scientists like me have found that feelings and values are what drive people toward broad, collective change – not charts, graphs or images.

The Conversation

From Michael Brown to Sonya Massey, a decade of police antiblack violence causes grief, worry and coping for Black parents

A decade ago, Michael Brown Jr., an unarmed Black 18-year-old, was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.

The Conversation

Offshore wind farms connected by an underwater power grid for transmission could revolutionize how the East Coast gets its electricity

Offshore winds have the potential to supply coastlines with massive, consistent flows of clean electricity. One study estimates wind farms just offshore could meet 11 times the projected global electricity demand in 2040.

The Conversation

Trees don’t like to breathe wildfire smoke, either – and they’ll hold their breath to avoid it

When wildfire smoke is in the air, doctors urge people to stay indoors to avoid breathing in harmful particles and gases. But what happens to trees and other plants that can’t escape from the smoke?

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