John Henry was more than mere legend. He was quite real and having competed against a machine until he dropped, he endured mental, emotional and physical stress, all also quite real. He coped by exerting excessive effort. This coping mechanism is called “John Henryism” and it puts one’s overall health and career at great risk. Researchers are exploring “John Henryism” in “PEERS,” Persons Excluded from science because of Ethnicity and Race.” Learn more on NSF’s “The Discovery Files.”

Coastal wetlands around the U.S. are vulnerable to rising sea levels and increasing levels of salt. The health of many freshwater ecosystems is being impacted by changes in freshwater supply, especially in the Florida Everglades. In this special National Black History Month edition of “The Discovery Files,” we focus on Dr. Sparkle Malone, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Science, Florida International University. Dr. Malone is taking measurements to assess how changes in salt levels affect a plant’s ability to use sunlight to make food, and how the response of specific species to increased salt impacts vegetation cover. Learn more on NSF’s “The Discovery Files.”

Standing at an elevation of 14,692 feet, Switzerland’s towering The Matterhorn appears immovable. But an international team of researchers discovered it sways back and forth, about once every two seconds. This perpetual motion creates a monumental waltz caused by seismic energy deep in the earth, created by earthquakes and the world’s oceans. The study could assist geologists in predicting rock damage and dangerous mountain landslides triggered by earthquakes. Learn more on NSF’s “The Discovery Files.”

The U.S. won its first Men’s Singles Luge medal, a Silver, in the 2018 Winter Olympics, having missed the mark by only 0.026 of a second. For the last decade, USA Luge has engaged teams of engineers using a computational design method to optimize shapes, testing the new designs in wind tunnel experiments, to create an ultrafast luge sled. Their sights are fixed on the 2022 Winter Olympics. Learn more at NSF’s “The Discovery Files.”

What do you do when a major winter storm or a bolt of lightning has left you without power and the temperature in your home begins to plummet? Even if your back-up generator kicks in, you worry about the potential for fire and toxic fumes. Researchers are developing a sodium-based battery as an alternative power source to lithium-ion batteries that, when produced on a large scale, might one day make generators obsolete. Learn more at NSF’s “The Discovery Files.”

Imagine one day being able to use the entire back side of your cell phone as a camera! Researchers have developed a camera the size of a grain of salt that, despite being just a half millimeter wide, it can take clear, full-color images as crisp as cameras 500,000 times its size. Such a micro-sized camera could lead to extraordinary advances in medical diagnosis and care, and significant improvements in robotic sensors. Learn more at NSF’s “The Discovery Files.”

The human brain has billions of neurons that communicate by sending chemical and electrical signals. Mapping these electrical signals is critical to successful brain surgery and treatment of diseases like Epilepsy and Parkinson’s. Researchers have developed an array of brain sensors that record electrical signals directly on the surface of the brain at a higher resolution than before, improving a surgeon’s ability to remove brain tumors with minimal risk of damaging healthy tissue and to identify areas where epileptic seizures are born. Learn more at NSF’s “The Discovery Files.”

Websites rely on computer programming scripts that track browsing history and collect private data. Many people turn to privacy browsers and tools, which sometimes block privacy-harming scripts and break websites or sacrifice privacy and allow the sites to continue functioning. “SugarCoat” changes the game, integrating existing tools to replace privacy-threatening scripts with privacy-preserving versions. Learn more at NSF’s “The Discovery Files.”

The way we walk can be determined by our sex, height, age, and muscle strength. But for many, an accident or a health disorder can impact their ability to walk. A team of researchers have developed a wearable, soft robotic “exosuit” that could improve the quality of life for millions with walking impairments or who lift heavy loads. Learn more at NSF’s “The Discovery Files.”

Prescription drugs can be costly because they are pharmaceutical compounds that use expensive and rare metals as the glue that binds them together. Iron could prove an inexpensive alternative, but is very unstable in that role. Yet, researchers have reduced its instability and increased its binding capacity, which could make prescription drugs much cheaper. Learn more at NSF’s “The Discovery Files.