NSF Funded Research News
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 27-Apr-2026 14:16 ET (27-Apr-2026 18:16 GMT/UTC)
Andes volcanoes – the missing link between algae blooms, whales and climate millions of years ago
University of ArizonaPeer-Reviewed Publication
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Funder
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Natural Environment Research Council
Treetops glowing during storms captured on film for first time
Penn StatePeer-Reviewed Publication
- Journal
- Geophysical Research Letters
Study finds warmer streams may weaken river food webs
Northern Arizona UniversityPeer-Reviewed Publication
In a new study published in the journal Ecosphere, researchers from Northern Arizona University found that when water temperatures increase, microbes and aquatic insects process fallen leaves, twigs and bark more rapidly, but a smaller fraction of that leaf litter supports their growth and a bigger fraction is released into the water and air as carbon dioxide.
- Journal
- Ecosphere
3D-printed brain sensors may unlock personalized neural monitoring
Penn StatePeer-Reviewed Publication
- Journal
- Advanced Materials
A regulatory loophole could delay ozone recovery by years
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPeer-Reviewed Publication
Scientists find an exception in the Montreal Protocol for the use of ozone-depleting feedstocks could set the recovery of the ozone layer back seven years.
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Funder
- NASA Headquarters, Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, VoLo Foundation, United Kingdom Natural Environment Research Council, Korea Meteorological Administration Research and Development Program
Researchers test a two-way brain interface with wearable robotic legs that could one day restore walking and sensation after paralysis
Keck School of Medicine of USCPeer-Reviewed Publication
Restoring both walking and sensation to patients with paraplegia is an ambitious goal—but a team of researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC, the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) is now one step closer. With $8 million in funding from the highly competitive National Science Foundation CyberPhysical Systems program, the team is building a fully implantable brain-computer interface (BCI) that allows patients to use their thoughts to control wearable robotic legs, known as a robotic exoskeleton. The system is designed to help patients walk while also restoring the sensation of walking. In the first full test, the BCI was about 92% accurate at both reading step signals from the brain and delivering artificial walking sensation. Existing brain-computer interfaces that restore walking send signals in just one direction, from brain to device. The team’s early proof-of-concept study, done in a patient with epilepsy who had electrodes implanted as part of her medical care, shows it is possible to build a bidirectional, or two-way, system. During the demonstration, the patient sat on her hospital bed with the device by her side (future versions will be small enough to implant inside the body), while one of the researchers wore the robot exoskeleton. When the patient mimed taking a step, the device signaled the exoskeleton, sending the researcher on a walk around the intensive care unit. The system correctly detected brain signals indicating the intent to walk about 92% of the time. The demonstration helped the researchers earn an Investigational Device Exemption from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which allows them to test the device in a clinical trial for patients with paraplegia. They aim to implant electrodes for 30 days as a time, using that window to test and refine the system’s capabilities.
Waves hit different on other planets
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPeer-Reviewed Publication
From lazy ripples to towering breakers, the mechanics of ocean waves should vary widely from one planet to another, according to a model developed by scientists at MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.
- Funder
- NASA Headquarters
As polar ice changes, so do the rules governing it
University of UtahPeer-Reviewed Publication
As Earth’s climate systems change, polar sea ice is becoming more granular in structure. University of Utah-led research reveals this type of ice is much less permeable than columnar sea ice, with important implications for geophysical processes. This is because water, heat and nutrients move less readily through granular ice than the ice it is replacing.
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Funder
- Office of Naval Research
Planets need more water to support life than scientists previously thought
University of WashingtonPeer-Reviewed Publication
- Journal
- The Planetary Science Journal
- Funder
- NASA Astrobiology Institute, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation