Experiment to Capture Universe’s Earliest Moments Reaches Funding Milestone

The National Science Foundation has awarded up to $21.4 million for the design of telescopes for CMB-S4, an international experiment that will study the cosmic microwave background and help us understand the beginning, history, and makeup of the universe. Berkeley Lab leads the project for DOE and also plays a lead role in technology development.

Professor receives grant to develop electronic devices made entirely of paper

A professor at Binghamton University, State University of New York has received a $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop electronic devices made entirely of paper.

St. Croix: Radio Astronomy in the Caribbean

Although the location of St. Croix is perfect for a VLBA antenna, the island poses significant challenges for using and maintaining a radio antenna. The St. Croix dish is located on the eastern side of the island, almost at sea level. So it is constantly bombarded by salt air, ocean rains, and even the occasional tropical storm.

Curbing waste improves global food security but has limited environmental benefits

Reducing waste is one way to help combat hunger around the world, but stricter control over food loss and waste does not lead to better environmental outcomes, according to researchers at the University of California, Irvine and the University of Colorado Boulder. In a paper published recently in Nature Food, the scientists stress that curbing food spoilage increases the amount of produce in markets, which leads to lower costs.

UC Irvine-led researchers reveal new molecular mechanism for stimulating hair growth

Irvine, Calif., June 21, 2023 — The process by which aged, or senescent, pigment-making cells in the skin cause significant growth of hair inside skin moles, called nevi, has been identified by a research team led by the University of California, Irvine. The discovery may offer a road map for an entirely new generation of molecular therapies for androgenetic alopecia, a common form of hair loss in both women and men.

Proyecto One Sky lanza videos para planetarios destacando la importancia y la historia de la astronomía indígena

El Proyecto internacional One Sky (dirigido por el Centro de Astronomía ‘Imiloa en Hawai‘i y patrocinado por el Telescopio de Treinta Metros) realizó una serie de siete cortometrajes en formato fulldome y un largometraje compilado enfocado en la astronomía cultural e indígena. Esta colaboración internacional busca establecer conexiones entre las culturas y aumentar nuestra comprensión sobre las diferentes perspectivas indígenas mientras demuestra cómo nuestro único cielo nos conecta a todos. Estos videos, que recibieron reconocimientos en 2022 y 2023, ahora están disponibles para descarga gratuita y pueden utilizarse en los planetarios de todo el mundo.

Rutgers is Part of NSF-funded Consortium to Advance Photonics Research and Workforce Development

Rutgers is part of a new federally funded regional collaboration to drive economic and technological advancements in photonics, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced. The consortium, which includes researchers from Rutgers-Newark and Rutgers-New Brunswick, awarded a development grant from the NSF’s Regional Innovation Economic Engine consortium, led by Princeton University and co-led by Rowan University, with partners throughout New Jersey and neighboring states Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York.

Rubin Observatory Reaches Major Milestone

Vera C. Rubin Observatory has passed a major construction milestone: the telescope structure is ready to be outfitted with a full-size replica of its 8.4-meter mirror and stand-ins for its 3200-megapixel LSST Camera and other critical optical components. This major milestone means that Rubin Observatory is on track to help probe the mysteries of dark matter, study the fundamental nature of dark energy, document the dynamic Universe, and explore other grand challenges of cosmology.

NSF Telescopes Image M87’s Supermassive Black Hole and Massive Jet Together for the First Time

Scientists studying the supermassive black hole at the heart of the M87 galaxy have revealed the origins of the monster’s powerful jet and imaged the jet and its source together for the first time. What’s more, the observations have revealed that the black hole’s ring is much larger than scientists previously believed.

Baseline 15: Space Lasers! How Astronomers Use Astrophysical Masers

Artificial lasers on Earth are used for everything from scanning grocery items to delicate surgery. But there are also naturally occurring lasers known as astrophysical masers. Join National Radio Astronomy Observatory as we explore what these “space lasers” tell astronomers about the Universe.

UC Irvine Earth system scientists plot pathways for climate-conscious air travel

With its high-carbon footprint, air travel challenges the goal set by many countries of stabilizing global mean temperature by the middle of the 21st century. The aviation sector could achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 through a combination of technology and a change in habits, but it’s not going to be easy, according to Earth system scientists at the University of California, Irvine.

Science Highlights 2022: Black Holes, Pulsars and Turbulence

The Universe is a dynamic and exciting place, with stars, planets, and galaxies being born, dying, and undergoing dramatic changes. In 2022, the telescopes of the National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) revealed fascinating new details about several of these processes, and we’re giving you a taste of the greatest radio astronomy moments of the year.

NSF and SpaceX Finalize Radio Spectrum Coordination Agreement

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and SpaceX have finalized a radio spectrum coordination agreement to limit interference from the company’s Starlink satellites to radio astronomy assets operating between 10.6 and 10.7 GHz. The agreement, detailed in a statement released by NSF today, ensures that Starlink satellite network plans will meet international radio astronomy protection standards, and protect NSF-funded radio astronomy facilities, including the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and the Green Bank Observatory (GBO).

UCI-led study finds pay practices, job barriers to blame for women making less than men

Irvine, Calif., Nov. 28, 2022 — Despite advances in gender equality, women still earn less than men in all advanced, industrialized societies. Who – or what – is to blame? A new 15-country study led by Andrew Penner at the University of California, Irvine, divides fault evenly between inequitable within-job salary structures and the decisions that route men and women into differently compensated roles.

Cell competition may explain cancer relapses, UT Southwestern research suggests

A normal process called cell competition, in which healthy tissues eliminate unhealthy cells, could be responsible for cancer relapses in patients months or years after they were declared cancer-free

Astronomers Discover Closest Black Hole to Earth

Astronomers using the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, have discovered the closest-known black hole to Earth. This is the first unambiguous detection of a dormant stellar-mass black hole in the Milky Way. Its close proximity to Earth, a mere 1600 light-years away, offers an intriguing target of study to advance our understanding of the evolution of binary systems.

NRAO’s Marian Pospieszalski Receives EuMA Pioneer Award

The European Microwave Association (EuMA) has announced Marian Pospieszalski— a senior research engineer at the National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)— as the recipient of its 2022 Pioneer Award. The EuMA Pioneer Award recognizes individuals responsible for noteworthy advances in the field of microwaves that have had a lasting and significant impact on the microwave community.

ALMA Witnesses Deadly Star-Slinging Tug-of-War Between Merging Galaxies

While observing a newly-dormant galaxy using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), scientists discovered that it had stopped forming stars not because it had used up all of its gas but because most of its star-forming fuel had been thrown out of the system as it merged with another galaxy. The result is a first for ALMA scientists. What’s more, if proven common, the results could change the way scientists think about galaxy mergers and deaths.

UCI receives $580 million in research funding for fiscal 2021-22

Irvine, Calif., Aug. 25, 2022 — From monitoring sandy beaches to gauge the effects of sea-level rise to holding clinical trials for potentially lifesaving cancer treatments, scholars, scientists and physicians at the University of California, Irvine are blazing new paths to help change the world. And their impact keeps growing.

Resultados sin precedentes de HL Tau alcanzados por ALMA en 2014 superan las 1000 citaciones en menos de una década

Los datos observacionales sin precedentes de HL Tau obtenidos por el Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) en 2014 han sido citados en más de mil estudios científicos en los últimos 7 años y medio. Ello ha permitido que la comunidad astronómica logre importantes avances en el estudio de la formación de planetas.El hito se produce cuando los ingenieros del Observatorio Nacional de Radioastronomía (NRAO) de la Fundación Nacional de Ciencias de EE. UU. se embarcan en ambiciosas actualizaciones de los receptores responsables de la claridad de las observaciones iniciales.

ALMA’s 2014 Ground-Breaking HL Tau Results Have Appeared in Over 1,000 Scientific Papers in Less Than a Decade

Ground-breaking 2014 HL Tau observational data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has been cited in more than 1,000 scientific studies in the past 7.5 years, aiding in major breakthroughs in scientists’ understanding of planet formation. The milestone comes as engineers at the U.S. National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) embark on ambitious upgrades to the receivers responsible for the clarity of initial observations.

ALMA Makes First-Ever Detection of Gas in a Circumplanetary Disk

Scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)— in which the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is a partner— to study planet formation have made the first-ever detection of gas in a circumplanetary disk. What’s more, the detection also suggests the presence of a very young exoplanet.

NSF-funded project looks at protecting security of marginalized and vulnerable populations

Using a $7.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), University of Florida engineers are leading a new effort to understand how groups like the poor, children and the elderly, and the disabled are marginalized by current technologies like smartphones and video conferencing and how current and future technologies can be designed to be more inclusive.

ALMA obtiene vista privilegiada de duelo entre fuerzas opuestas en incubadora de Gran Nube de Magallanes

Tras usar el Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) para observar regiones donde se forman estrellas en la Gran Nube de Magallanes, un equipo de investigación descubrió la existencia de un turbulento fenómeno de tira y afloja en la incubadora 30 Doradus. Las observaciones revelaron que, a pesar de una intensa retroalimentación estelar, la gravedad está incidiendo en la forma de la nube molecular y, contra todo pronóstico, fomentando la formación de estrellas jóvenes y masivas. Los resultados de las observaciones se presentaron hoy en una conferencia de prensa durante la asamblea n.o 240 de la Sociedad Astronómica Estadounidense (AAS, en su sigla en inglés), celebrada en Pasadena (California, EE. UU.), y se publicarán la revista The Astrophysical Journal (ApJ).

ALMA gets front-row seat to an ongoing star-formation standoff in the Large Magellanic Cloud

While using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to observe large star-forming regions in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), scientists discovered a turbulent push-and-pull dynamic in the star-forming region, 30 Doradus. Observations revealed that despite intense stellar feedback, gravity is shaping the molecular cloud, and against scientific odds, is driving the ongoing formation of young, massive stars. The observations were presented today in a press conference at the 240th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Pasadena, California, and are published in The Astrophysical Journal (ApJ).

Undergraduate Researcher Captures Young Galaxy’s “Coming of Age” and Finds Evidence That Early Galaxies May Be Bigger and More Complex Than We Thought

Scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)— an international observatory co-operated by the US National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)—have observed a significant amount of cold, neutral gas in the outer regions of the young galaxy A1689-zD1, as well as outflows of hot gas coming from the galaxy’s center. These results may shed light on a critical stage of galactic evolution for early galaxies, where young galaxies begin the transformation to be increasingly like their later, more structured cousins. The observations were presented today in a press conference at the 240th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Pasadena, California, and will be published in an upcoming edition of The Astrophysical Journal (ApJ).

Scientists on the Hunt for Planetary Formation Fossils Reveal Unexpected Eccentricities in Nearby Debris Disk

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have imaged the debris disk of the nearby star HD 53143 at millimeter wavelengths for the first time, and it looks nothing like they expected. Based on early coronagraphic data, scientists expected ALMA to confirm the debris disk as a face-on ring peppered with clumps of dust. Instead, the observations took a surprise turn, revealing the most complicated and eccentric debris disk observed to date.

Equipo científico en busca de fósiles de formación planetaria revela inesperadas excentricidades en disco de escombros cercano

Gracias al Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), un equipo de astrónomos y astrónomas obtuvo la primera imagen de un disco de escombros de la estrella cercana HD 53143 en longitudes de onda milimétricas, y el resultado dista mucho del que se esperaba. Sobre la base de datos coronagráficos, la comunidad científica esperaba que ALMA confirmara que el disco tenía el aspecto de un anillo visto de frente y con aglomeraciones de polvo. En cambio, el estudio reveló el disco más complejo y excéntrico observado a la fecha.

Science Results From NRAO Facilities to Be Presented at Multiple AAS 240 Press Conferences

Seven new scientific results from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the Very Large Array (VLA), and the Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS) will be revealed at multiple press conferences during the 240th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) between June 13-15, 2022 in Pasadena, California.

NSF Tags FAU Researcher for Post-quantum Cryptography in NextG Networks

FAU’s Reza Azarderakhsh, Ph.D., was among 34 investigators nationwide selected by the NSF for RINGS, which is short for Resilient and Intelligent Next-Generation Systems. His project is the only one working on taking post-quantum cryptography to next generation systems.

Astronomers Reveal First Image of the Black Hole at the Heart of Our Galaxy

At simultaneous press conferences around the world, including at a National Science Foundation-sponsored press conference at the US National Press Club in Washington, D.C., astronomers have unveiled the first image of the supermassive black hole at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy. This result provides overwhelming evidence that the object is indeed a black hole and yields valuable clues about the workings of such giants, which are thought to reside at the center of most galaxies. The image was produced by a global research team called the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration, using observations from a worldwide network of radio telescopes.

NSF supports research studying how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine affects Americans

Irvine, Calif., May 2, 2022 — The National Science Foundation has awarded a Rapid Response Research grant of nearly $175,000 to University of California, Irvine researchers seeking to gauge the effect that the reporting of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in traditional and social media outlets has on the mental health of U.S. citizens.

Científicos descubren escurridizo gas de galaxias post brote estelar que se escondía a plena vista

Se creía que las galaxias post brotes de formación estelar agotan a gran velocidad y en violentas erupciones de energía todo el polvo y gas necesario para fabricar estrellas. Los nuevos datos obtenidos por el Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) revelaron que, en realidad, estas galaxias no se despojan de todo su combustible, sino que entran en un letargo en el que conservan y comprimen grandes cantidades de gas ultraconcentrado y turbulento. No obstante, al contrario de lo que se esperaría, tampoco lo usan para dar nacimiento a nuevas estrellas.

Scientists Find Elusive Gas From Post-starburst Galaxies Hiding in Plain Sight

Post-starburst galaxies were previously thought to scatter all of their gas and dust—the fuel required for creating new stars—in violent bursts of energy, and with extraordinary speed. Now, new data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) reveals that these galaxies don’t scatter all of their star-forming fuel after all. Instead, after their supposed end, these dormant galaxies hold onto and compress large amounts of highly-concentrated, turbulent gas. But contrary to expectation, they’re not using it to form stars.