The U.S. National Science Foundation's Center for Computer Assisted Synthesis is developing data science tools and computational workflows that aim to shape the future of synthetic chemistry. We are joined by Gabe Gomes, assistant professor of chemistry and chemical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, to hear about the work being done at the facility and the revolutionary new tool his team has developed, Coscientist.

From the Viking age to a Cold War military installation revealing insights into the ice age, advances in artificial intelligence, and looks at black holes and gravitational waves in the depths of space, these are just some of the stunning findings produced by U.S. National Science Foundation-supported researchers in 2023. As we start a new year, we're looking back at some memorable moments from the past year's shows.

Humans have always looked up to the sky and wondered about the stars and what life may be out there. Astronomers are using tools such as the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Observatory and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array to search for radio waves, technosignatures sent from distant stars. David DeBoer, a research astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley joins to explain how Breakthrough Listen is leading this effort and how the Collaboration for Astronomy Signal Processing and Electronics Research is advancing the technology behind it.

Blue whales are the largest animals to ever inhabit the planet and were hunted to near extinction in the era of commercial whaling. Since the 1960's, these giants have been protected but continue to be considered endangered and are seldom seen. Kate Stafford, an associate professor and bio-acoustician at Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute, joins today to explain how a film brought her to the Republic of Seychelles to locate blue whales using their vocalizations, share insights into whale song and explain how she hears climate change.

The U.S. National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) has helped ensure the quality, vitality and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce by recognizing and supporting outstanding graduate students since 1952. Kyle Johnson, a doctoral student at the University of Washington, joins us to talk about his work with robotics, his GRFP experience and how he inspires the next generation.

The ubiquity of plastic materials in modern life has meant that plastic debris can be found everywhere. A subset of these environmental contaminates, smaller than a sesame seed, are called microplastics, and an even smaller subset of those are called nanoplastics. We are joined by Lauren Pincus, an environmental chemist and post-doctoral fellow at Princeton University, to learn about plastic degradation, how it interacts with inorganic materials in the environment and what we might do to help prevent it.

The U.S. National Science Foundation has invested over half a billion dollars to establish the National AI Research Institutes. We are joined by D.K. Panda, from the AI Institute for Intelligent Cyberinfrastructure with Computational Learning in the Environment; Giovanni Vigna, from the AI Institute for Agent-based Cyber Threat Intelligence and Operation; Yiran Chen, from the AI Institute for Edge Computing Leveraging Next Generation Networks; Ness Shroff, from the AI institute for Future Edge Networks and Distributed Intelligence; and Tess DeBlanc-Knowles, staff associate for technology policy and strategy in NSF's Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, to hear how these institutes will drive cutting-edge innovations in AI and how society will benefit from this research.

The HistoryMakers is the world's largest searchable oral history archive, featuring the first-person accounts of over 3,000 African American people from a wide variety of disciplines, including a special subset of STEM community members under a project called "ScienceMakers." Founder Julieanna Richardson tells us about early challenges, memorable moments along the journey and how the Library of Congress is now housing the collection.

The U.S. National Science Foundation has invested over half a billion dollars to establish the National AI Research Institutes. We are joined by Aarti Singh from the AI Institute for Societal Decision Making; Amy McGovern from the AI Institute for Research on Trustworthy AI in Weather, Climate, and Coastal Oceanography; Ashok Goel from the National AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education; Vikram Adve from the Artificial Intelligence for Future Agricultural Resilience, Management, and Sustainability Institute; and Michael Littman, division director for Information and Intelligent Systems in NSF's Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate, to hear how these institutes will revolutionize the frontiers of AI and how society will benefit from these innovations.

A team of researchers at the NSF-supported EduceLab are working to revolutionize digital restoration. They are investigating the Herculaneum Scrolls, ancient writings that were carbonized in the Mount Vesuvius eruption of 79 C.E. We are joined by EduceLab principal investigator Brent Seales, a computer science professor at the University of Kentucky, to hear about imaging the fragile scrolls, using advanced computer technology to process the data and how the Vesuvius Challenge is revealing words.