EurekAlert! National Science Foundation - NSF Funded Research News

NSF Funded Research News

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 7-Oct-2025 11:11 ET (7-Oct-2025 15:11 GMT/UTC)

21-Aug-2025

‘Root beer FLOAT’ burst’s home is located with extraordinary precision

Northwestern University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Newly detected fast radio burst (FRB) is one of the brightest ever observed. Astronomers used the CHIME telescope array to triangulate the burst’s location. FRB traced to the outskirts of a star-forming region in a nearby galaxy using powerful optical telescopes. Location is accurate within just 42 light years, the most precise localization yet for a non-repeating FRB.

Journal: The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Research Corporation for Science Advancement, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Trottier Space Institute at McGill

21-Aug-2025

Moisture changes the rules of atmospheric traffic jams

Purdue University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New research from Purdue University reveals how moisture influences atmospheric blocking, a phenomenon that often drives heat waves, droughts, cold outbreaks and floods, helping solve a mystery in climate science and improving future extreme weather predictions.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. National Science Foundation, NASA Science Mission Directorate

21-Aug-2025

Wrinkles in atomically thin materials unlock ultraefficient electronics

Rice University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Rice scientists have discovered that tiny creases in two-dimensional materials can control electrons’ spin with record precision, opening the path to ultracompact, energy-efficient devices.

Journal: Matter
Funder: U.S. Office of Naval Research, Army Research Office, U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Defense

21-Aug-2025

Astronomers detect the brightest fast radio burst of all time

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Astronomers detected the brightest fast radio burst ever seen. The dazzling “RBFLOAT” radio burst, originating nearby in the Ursa Major constellation, offers the clearest view yet of the environment around these mysterious flashes.

Journal: The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Funder: Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, U.S. National Science Foundation, Canada Foundation for Innovation and provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia

21-Aug-2025

UC Irvine-led research team uncovers global wildfire paradox

University of California - Irvine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a new paper in Science, researchers at the University of California, Irvine, Boise State University in Idaho, and East Anglia University in England Worldwide, report that land area consumed by wildfires decreased by 26 percent from 2002 to 2021. During the same time, human exposure to blazes jumped by 40 percent, with Africa accounting for most of it.

Journal: Science
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

21-Aug-2025

What traits matter when predicting disease emergence in new populations?

Penn State
Peer-Reviewed Publication

When a disease-causing virus or other organism is transmitted from one species to another, traits of early virus spread help determine if a virus will ultimately persist in a new population, according to new research from Penn State and the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Journal: PLOS Biology
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

21-Aug-2025

Overcoming disordered energy in light-matter interactions

University of California - San Diego
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a new study, researchers from UC San Diego designed experiments to show how disordered energy can limit the energy transfer pathway in light-matter interactions, and further demonstrated a strategy to overcome this limitation.In a new study, researchers from UC San Diego designed experiments to show how disordered energy can limit the energy transfer pathway in light-matter interactions, and further demonstrated a strategy to overcome this limitation.

Journal: Science
Funder: Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Office of Naval Research, U.S. National Science Foundation

21-Aug-2025

Going viral: how ideas, beliefs, and innovations spread in the digital age

Santa Fe Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study published in Physical Review Letters offers a fresh explanation about what causes some ideas to die out while others take over the internet.

Journal: Physical Review Letters
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. National Science Foundation, Science Foundation Ireland

21-Aug-2025

New AI tool tracks early signs of hurricane formation

University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A research team led by a Ph.D. student at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science has developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool that can automatically identify and track tropical easterly waves (TEWs)—clusters of clouds and wind that often develop into hurricanes—and separate them from two major tropical wind patterns: the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the monsoon trough (MT).

Journal: Monthly Weather Review
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

21-Aug-2025

Researchers demonstrate new technique for controlling phase boundaries in thin films

North Carolina State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers have demonstrated a new technique for precisely controlling phase boundaries in thin film materials by manipulating the thickness of those films – allowing them to engineer energy storage materials that do not rely on toxic elements.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund, Army Research Office, DOE/US Department of Energy