By integrating smart capabilities such as sensing and energy harvesting, Dr. Jeeeun Kim is transforming passive interfaces — such as light switches and doorknobs — into adaptive interfaces, altering hardware to be used in non-traditional ways. These interfaces will assist people with disabilities, automate domestic tasks, and power millions of computers. Kim, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at Texas A&M University, is a recipient of the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award, which will support this research.

Local governments in developing countries are crucial for providing public services that promote human development and address challenges like extreme weather, unemployment and crumbling infrastructure. Yet, they often face difficulties in implementing cost-effective programs that meet citizens’ diverse needs, particularly in areas with significant socioeconomic inequalities. A recent study led by University of Notre Dame researcher Krister Andersson explored the impact of economic and social inequalities on local government performance in Chile (a country with very high socioeconomic inequalities), assessing the effectiveness of external policies to alleviate the negative effects of inequality on the quality of local public services.

Despite their reputation as buzzing nuisances, flies serve a critical role as some of the Earth’s most prolific pollinators — and new research led by Penn State scientists suggests they are increasingly at risk due to rising global temperatures.

A combination of good timing, great advice, and a novel opportunity changed Dawson Berger's career trajectory. He is now a full-time PhD student in mechanical engineering and one of the first participants in the NSF-funded Stakeholder Engaged, Equitable, Decarbonized Energy Futures Training Program (SEED EF) at Lehigh University.

Conventional wisdom assumes the ratio of gases in a planet’s atmosphere should match the ratio of gases in the natal disk that birthed it. For the first time, researchers compared gases in a still-forming planet’s atmosphere to its natal disk. Team found the planet surprisingly was less carbon-rich than the disk.