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NSF Funded Research News

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 20-Aug-2025 17:09 ET (20-Aug-2025 21:09 GMT/UTC)

Epigenetic noise: Unappreciated process helps cells change identity

University of Chicago
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study suggests that randomness or variability in the way DNA is packaged can create a kind of “epigenetic noise,” enabling cells to take on the identify of different cell types. This flexibility plays an important role in tissue repair and the immune system but can also be exploited for the development of tumors.

Journal: Nature
Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health, U.S. National Science Foundation, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Researchers make better magnets – at a lower cost

North Carolina State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers have demonstrated a new technique for manufacturing strong magnetic materials that improves the quality of the magnets, produces the magnets quickly, uses less energy and is less expensive.

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

Industry managed forests more likely to fuel megafires

University of Utah
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Timber companies are more likely to use plantation forestry—clear-cutting and replanting trees close together. Leveraging a unique lidar dataset, the authors created 3D maps of forest before five wildfires burned 1.1 million acres. During extreme weather, the number of trees per acre was the strongest predictor of high-severity fire. Thinning trees would reduce risk, even in the face of accelerating climate change.

Journal: Global Change Biology
Funder: Wilkes Climate Center for Climate Science and Policy, U.S. National Science Foundation

Q&A: What can AI developers learn from climate activists

University of Washington
Reports and Proceedings

The goals of those developing AI systems for the climate and those working on the front lines of climate advocacy don’t necessarily align. To compare the two groups, UW researchers interviewed nine people who are developing AI for sustainability and 10 climate advocates.

Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

How chefs and scientists are using kombucha and kimchi to study microbiology

North Carolina State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists and chefs have collaborated on a new study that demonstrates how fermented foods can be used to drive participatory science projects that both engage the public and advance our understanding of microbial ecology. The study focused on working with food experts and the public to examine the microbial communities associated with kombucha, kimchi and chow chow.

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

Alien aurora: Researchers discover new plasma wave in Jupiter’s aurora

University of Minnesota
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities have made a groundbreaking discovery by observing and analyzing the first new type of plasma wave in Jupiter’s aurora.

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

This protein slows the aging brain and we know how to counter it

University of California - San Francisco
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Aging is particularly harsh on the hippocampus — the brain region responsible for learning and memory.

Now, researchers at UC San Francisco have identified a protein that’s at the center of this decline.

Journal: Nature Aging
Funder: Simons Foundation, Bakar Family Foundation, U.S. National Science Foundation, Hillblom Foundation, Bakar Aging Research Institute, Marc and Lynne Benioff, NIH/National Institutes of Health, NIH/National Institutes of Health, NIH/National Institutes of Health, NIH/National Institutes of Health

Researchers find intensive blood pressure targets are cost-effective

Mass General Brigham
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Research led by investigators at Mass General Brigham suggests that the health benefits of more aggressive blood pressure control outweigh concerns about overtreating people with high blood pressure readings.

Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

$5 million NSF grant powers AI innovations in nationwide workflow management

University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Grant and Award Announcement

Researchers at University of Tennessee, Knoxville are collaborating on PegasusAI, an NSF-funded project to enhance scientific workflows using AI. By integrating tools like large language models and neural networks, PegasusAI aims to simplify complex data processing, improve accessibility, and empower researchers nationwide with intelligent, user-centered workflow management systems.

Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

An alphabet for hand actions in the human brain

Carnegie Mellon University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Analogous to how all of the words in a language can be created by recombining the letters of its alphabet, a new study finds that the full repertoire of human hand actions can be built out of a small number of basic building block movements.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, Pennsylvania Department of Health, European Research Council

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