EurekAlert! National Science Foundation - NSF Funded Research News

NSF Funded Research News

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 29-Apr-2025 13:08 ET (29-Apr-2025 17:08 GMT/UTC)

5-Mar-2025

Scientists unlock clues to new treatments for muscular dystrophy

University of Southern California
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers combined advanced imaging techniques and theoretical physics to observe and explain how nanoclusters of the protein emerin form inside living cells. The study uncovers the molecular “rules” driving the arrangement of emerin into nanoclusters and the mechanisms leading to their defective assembly in people with muscular dystrophy.

Journal: Physical Review Research
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

5-Mar-2025

Tufts scientists develop open-source software for modeling soft materials

Tufts University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A team of Tufts University researchers created Morpho, an open-source programmable environment that enables researchers and engineers to conduct shape optimization and design for soft materials. Applications can be for anything from artificial hearts to robot materials that mimic flesh and soft tissue.

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

5-Mar-2025

The yucca and the moth: How extreme weather impacts the timing of biological events

University of Arizona
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study sheds light on how extreme weather events impact phenological processes, specifically the flight period of butterflies and moths and the flowering time of plants, with implications for food security in the wake of climate change.

Journal: Nature Climate Change
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture

5-Mar-2025

Researchers quantify the way rivers bend, opening up the possibility for identifying origins of channels on other planets

University of Texas at Austin
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Whether it’s rivers cutting through earth, lava melting through rock, or water slicing through ice, channels all twist and bend in a seemingly similar back-and-forth manner. But a new study led by scientists at The University of Texas at Austin has discovered that channels carved by rivers actually have curves distinct to those cut by lava or ice.

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

5-Mar-2025

Feeling is believing: Bionic hand “knows” what it’s touching, grasps like a human

Johns Hopkins University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Johns Hopkins University engineers have developed a pioneering prosthetic hand that can grip plush toys, water bottles, and other everyday objects like a human, carefully conforming and adjusting its grasp to avoid damaging or mishandling whatever it holds.

Journal: Science Advances
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Defense

5-Mar-2025

Scientists catch water molecules flipping before splitting

Northwestern University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen holds promise for producing clean hydrogen fuel, but the process uses more energy than theoretical calculations suggest. Researchers developed a sophisticated new technique to watch water molecules before and during the chemical reaction. They found the molecules flip immediately before producing oxygen. The insights help explain why the process uses so much energy and could lead to improved catalysts for more efficient, practical water-splitting technologies.

Journal: Science Advances
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, U.S. Department of Energy, Army Research Office/Defense Advanced Research Program Agency

5-Mar-2025

Program will train high schoolers to write code and develop microelectronics for artificial intelligence

University of Kansas
Grant and Award Announcement

Researchers at the University of Kansas, along with the University of Florida and the University of North Texas, will partner with regional high schools to engage about 500 students and 25 teachers in real-world projects to build interest in the technology as a career path.

Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

5-Mar-2025

Scientists discover genes to grow bigger tomatoes and eggplants

Johns Hopkins University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Bigger, tastier tomatoes and eggplants could soon grace our dinner plates thanks to Johns Hopkins scientists who have discovered genes that control how large the fruits will grow. Findings were published in the journal Nature.

Journal: Nature
Funder: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, U.S. National Science Foundation, French National Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment, NIH/National Institutes of Health

5-Mar-2025

Study: The ozone hole is healing, thanks to global reduction of CFCs

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An MIT-led study confirms the Antarctic ozone layer is healing as a direct result of global efforts to reduce ozone-depleting substances.

Journal: Nature
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, NASA Headquarters

5-Mar-2025

A new way to predict cancer's spread? Scientists look at 'stickiness' of tumor cells

University of California - San Diego
Peer-Reviewed Publication

By assessing how “sticky” tumor cells are, UC San Diego researchers have found a potential way to predict whether a patient’s early-stage breast cancer is likely to spread. The discovery could help doctors identify high-risk patients and tailor their treatments accordingly.

Journal: Cell Reports
Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health, U.S. National Science Foundation, NIH/National Cancer Institute