EurekAlert! National Science Foundation - NSF Funded Research News

NSF Funded Research News

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 28-Jun-2025 02:10 ET (28-Jun-2025 06:10 GMT/UTC)

15-Apr-2025

Foraging on the wing: How can ecologically similar birds live together?

A new study used modern methods to reassess a foundational study in biology that explained how ecologically similar species of wood warblers coexist. The research team examined foraging behavior, physical characteristics, diet and evolutionary history of 13 warbler species and found that how these songbirds coexist is more nuanced than originally proposed.

Journal: Biology Letters
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, Schmidt Sciences, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Penn State Eberly College of Science, Pennsylvania State University

15-Apr-2025

Uncovering the hidden cost of water splitting

Northwestern University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Water molecules flip their orientation before splitting into hydrogen and oxygen. These acrobatics require significant energy, leading to the reaction’s inefficiency. Researchers quantified the precise energy costs of flipping. Efficiency is significantly affected by the water’s pH levels.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy, U.S. National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research

15-Apr-2025

Study finds flaws in tools used to enforce online ad standards

North Carolina State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study finds about 10% of websites that claim to comply with online advertising standards are running ads that violate those standards. The finding tells researchers that the ad-filtering rules browser extensions use to enforce the standards have flaws advertisers can take advantage of to display non-compliant ads.

Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation
Meeting: ACM Web Conference

15-Apr-2025

Penn engineers first to train AI at lightspeed

University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Penn Engineers have developed the first programmable chip that can train nonlinear neural networks using light — a breakthrough that could dramatically speed up AI training, reduce energy use and even pave the way for fully light-powered computers.

Journal: Nature Photonics
Funder: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Office of Naval Research, U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. National Science Foundation

14-Apr-2025

Researchers develop an LSD analogue with potential for treating schizophrenia

University of California - Davis
Peer-Reviewed Publication

UC Davis researchers have developed a new, neuroplasticity-promoting drug closely related to LSD that harnesses the psychedelic’s therapeutic power with reduced hallucinogenic potential.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health, Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Boone Family Foundation, Hope for Depression Research Foundation, Pritzker Neuropsychiatric Disorders Research Consortium, L.I.F.E. Foundation, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, U.S. National Science Foundation, Delix Therapeutics

14-Apr-2025

To avoid parasites, some fruit flies sacrifice sleep

University of Cincinnati
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Some fruit flies sacrifice sleep to avoid parasites like mites. Researchers discovered marked differences in gene expression related to metabolism in the hypervigilant flies.

Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

14-Apr-2025

Tropical bounty: How forests can turn into chemical factories

Washington University in St. Louis
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study led by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and the Missouri Botanical Garden has uncovered a surprising layer of diversity in tropical forests. Not only are the forests populated by a dizzying number of tree species, but each of those species takes a different approach to chemistry, increasing the array of natural compounds that provide important functions for the plants — and potentially for humans.

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

11-Apr-2025

Scientists observe exotic quantum phase once thought impossible

Rice University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A team of Rice researchers reported the first direct observation of a surprising quantum phenomenon predicted over half a century ago known as a superradiant phase transition, which occurs when two groups of quantum particles begin to fluctuate in a coordinated, collective way without any external trigger, forming a new state of matter.

Journal: Science Advances
Funder: U.S. Army Research Office, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Welch Foundation, W. M. Keck Foundation, Materials Research Tohoku University, U.S. National Science Foundation, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Research Foundation for Opto-Science and Technology, U.S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation of China

10-Apr-2025

New AI tool set to speed quest for advanced superconductors

Emory University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Using artificial intelligence shortens the time to identify complex quantum phases in materials from months to minutes, finds a new study published in Newton. The breakthrough could significantly speed up research into quantum materials, particularly low-dimensional superconductors.

Journal: Newton
Funder: Air Force Office of Scientific Research, DOE/US Department of Energy, U.S. National Science Foundation, Yale University

10-Apr-2025

Lehigh University researcher receives NSF award to enhance flu forecasting through innovative technology

Lehigh University
Grant and Award Announcement

Can public health experts make a forecast for the flu or another infectious disease as accurately as a computational model?

Thomas McAndrew, assistant professor, Department of Biostatistics and Health Data Science in Lehigh University’s College of Health, has received an award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to research and develop a novel approach to forecasting. His project, “IHBEM: Enhancing Influenza Forecasting Through an Integrated Platform for User-Generated Temporal Forecasts,” will help improve evidence-based public health decision making for infectious diseases.

Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation