Science Nation

NSF's National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, or National MagLab, is a global destination for groundbreaking research across scientific disciplines. Nearly 2,000 scientists from around the world use MagLab's facilities each year, leveraging the power of high magnetic fields to explore new physical phenomena, develop materials for future generation technology, overcome energy challenges, and increase understanding of the human brain and life in general.

The research in this episode was supported by NSF grants #1644779, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory Renewal 2018-2022; #1462383, CAREER: Fractal Bandstructure by Superlattice Patterning; and #1420634, MRSEC: Columbia Center for Precision Assembly of Superstratic and Superatomic Solids.

The Very Large Array, or VLA, is a complex of 27 massive antennas on the Plains of San Agustin in central New Mexico, all pointing skyward to monitor radio emissions from the cosmos. With support from NSF, astronomers, such as Claire Chandler, use this facility to observe the most dynamic, cataclysmic events in the universe.

The research in this episode was supported by NSF award #1647378, National Radio Astronomy Observatory: Very Large Array Operations and Maintenance.

Imagine synthetic antibiotics that could fight infections like MRSA, custom pharmaceuticals to treat advanced prostate cancer, and new enzymes that will turn cellulose into fuel. With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), chemist Kent Kirshenbaum and his team at New York University are engineering molecules to mimic the shape, structure and function of natural proteins. The ultimate goal of this biomimetic chemistry research is to develop a reliable way to build synthetic proteins that can be put to work at the industrial scale.

The research in this episode was supported by NSF award #1507946, Functional Biomimetic Architectures.

The city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, has turned to engineering research to tackle an issue facing many cities -- aging stormwater infrastructure -- during a time of tight budgets, growing populations and more extreme weather. With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), civil and environmental engineer Branko Kerkez and a team at the University of Michigan are building a new generation of smart and connected stormwater systems, and they're testing them in Ann Arbor and other locations around the country. These retrofits are autonomous technologies that help the older systems perform better during storm events.

The research in this episode was supported by NSF award #1737432, "Overcoming Social and Technical Barriers for the Broad Adoption of Smart Stormwater Systems."

This research team is sweating the small stuff -- in sweat! With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), device engineer Jason Heikenfeld of the University of Cincinnati and a multidisciplinary team are developing new technologies to take sweat biosensors to the next level. Their wearable patches allow tiny amounts of sweat to be captured and analyzed quickly and accurately with strong correlation to blood data. The researchers envision a day when data from continuous sweat monitoring will be an essential tool in health care, like blood tests. Heikenfeld is also part of a new start-up company called Eccrine Systems that's working to bring sweat biosensing to the marketplace.

The research in this episode was supported by NSF award #1608275, Chronologically Correlated Sweat Biosensing.

Middle and high school students in Salt Lake City are helping scientists and the community better understand particulate matter pollution, which typically appears as a haze over the city in the winter. With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), University of Utah chemical engineer Kerry Kelly and a team set up the partnership for outreach and education, as well as research. Acting as citizen scientists, the kids measure air quality with low-cost sensors in various areas around town, including their homes and schools. In school, they construct simplified sensors out of building blocks to learn how they work.

The research in this episode was supported by NSF award #1642513, Community Network to Understand Air Quality and Sensor Reliability.

Mobile computing is accelerating beyond the smartphone era. Today, people wear smart glasses, smart watches and fitness devices, and they carry smartphones, tablets and laptops. In a decade, the very same people are likely to wear or carry tens of wireless devices and interact with the internet and computing infrastructure in markedly different ways. Computer scientist Xia Zhou is working to make sure there are no traffic jams with the increased demand. With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Zhou and her team at Dartmouth College are developing ways to encode and transmit all that data faster and more securely with the visible light spectrum. They see visible light communication as a much-needed advance in wireless data transmission.

The research in this episode was supported by NSF award #1421528, Networking and Sensing Using Visible Light Communications.

Scientists have long chalked up ocean mixing of salt, heat, nutrients and gases, such as oxygen and carbon dioxide, to wind and tides. New research is investigating another possible contributor: krill. Mixing ocean water may seem like a big job for such a tiny creature, but krill are a force of nature when they migrate in giant swarms to feed at night. With support from the National Science Foundation, Stanford University engineer John Dabiri and his team are using lab experiments to understand the fluid dynamics of swarm migrations through a stratified water column. If the vertical migrations of krill and other organisms are playing a significant role in ocean mixing, that should impact future calculations about ocean circulation and the global climate.

The research in this episode was supported by NSF award #1510607, Collaborative Research: Multiscale interactions between active particles and stratified fluids during collective vertical migration.

For Americans over 65, falls are the leading cause of injury-related death. With increases in average life expectancy, the importance of balance training methodologies and assistive technologies towards maintaining overall health, improving balance, as well as preventing falls, has significant societal relevance. The goal of this research is to gain new knowledge about how bodyweight supportive versus sensory training can improve one's balance to ultimately reduce the number of falls in older individuals.

Mechanical engineer Lara Thompson, associate professor of mechanical engineering and initiator and director of the Biomedical Engineering Program, conceptualized and created a state-of-the-art Center for Biomechanical & Rehabilitation Engineering at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), a historically black college and university (HBCU), both to do research and to inspire a new generation of students to pursue careers in STEM, and biomedical engineering, in particular. UDC is the only public institution of higher learning in Washington, D.C., and one of only a few HBCUs nationwide that offers an undergraduate degree program in biomedical engineering. Thompson is preparing her graduates, predominantly women and ethnic minorities, to become the future researchers and innovators who will devise ways to help those suffering from mobility-related deficiencies.

The NSF HBCU Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) makes Research Initiation Awards to HBCU faculty, such as Thompson, who are starting a research program and do not have sufficient financial support from the institution to do so. "These awards have an enormous impact on the career of junior faculty and Dr. Lara Thompson at UDC is a shining example of what can be achieved with federal support. Her research will produce far-reaching broader impacts, in addition to generating new knowledge in the field of biomedical engineering," explains Claudia Rankins, HBCU-UP program director within the NSF Directorate for Education and Human Resources. "Dr. Thompson is dedicated to making engineering a more diverse discipline that is welcoming to students who may not initially see themselves as engineers."

The research in this episode was supported by NSF award #1700219, Investigating a new Generation of Assistive, Innovative Technologies (GAIT) for balance rehabilitation.

Running out of "juice," finding a place to charge up, borrowing a charger, waiting for the charge--it's a familiar ritual for cell phone owners, but materials scientist Shirley Meng of the University of California, San Diego, wants us to raise our expectations for the future.

She envisions cheaper, faster, more powerful batteries, but these batteries would be made with sodium, not lithium. Sodium and other elements that make a sodium batteries work are more abundant than the lithium and cobalt used in typical rechargeable batteries. But, few advances have been made with sodium battery technology and there's no infrastructure in place to help scientists make great strides, at least not yet.

The research in this episode was supported by NSF award #1608968, Interfacial Science and Defect Engineering of Functional Oxides for Sodium-ion Storage and Transport.