NSF's public investment in science, engineering, education and technology helps to create knowledge and sustain prosperity. Read here about the Internet, microbursts, Web browsers, extrasolar planets, and more... a panoply of discoveries and innovations that began with NSF support.

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		Novel Answer to That Perennial "Earth Day" Question: "What Can I Do to Help?" Groups of citizen scientists are making pivotal contributions to research on the Earth, its place in the universe and other natural phenomena Released  April 19, 2012
		Predicting "Cosmic Fireworks" From Our Own Backyard Using the largest map of the cosmos ever, astronomers have counted nearby double white dwarfs, stars thought to cause an important type of supernova Released  March 13, 2012
		Tracking the Causes of Space-based Weather Disruptions Scientists use innovative Radio Aurora Explorer satellite to discover conditions that cause disruptions in space-based communication and navigation signals Released  March 16, 2011
		How the Sun Gets Its Spots To prevent solar damage to communication, navigation and other high tech systems, scientists are determining the temperatures, composition and movement of materials inside the sun Released  January 7, 2011
		Three NSF-Funded Scientists Among Recipients of $3 Million Kavli Prize Among the latest winners of the Kavli Prize are three scientists who have received NSF funding over the past several years Released  November 28, 2010
		Gigantic Gravity "Lenses" Magnify Galaxies Far, Far Away Submillimeter observatories penetrate cold, dusty galaxies to see stars forming in the primeval past Released  November 19, 2010
		Observatory Staff Aid in Military Helicopter Crash Rescue Green Bank Telescope's staff typically spend their days helping scientists carry out their research, but on one dramatic day in February 2010, they helped rescue soldiers from a crashed helicopter Released  September 10, 2010
		3-D Images Reveal New Composition of the Sun Improved 3-D simulations carried out at the NSF-supported Texas Advanced Computing Center are leading scientists to reevaluate the sun's composition and theories about the structure and evolution of stars Released  August 18, 2010
		Coming to a Home Near You: Citizen Science Contributes to Research Discovery may be in front of your home computer, thanks to "citizen scientist" projects Released  March 24, 2010
		Taking the "Surprise" out of Surprise Solar Storms Scientists are learning to predict giant solar storms that could, at any time, hit the Earth and produce cascading catastrophes Released  March 18, 2010
		Tiny Galaxies Reveal How First Stars Formed Lowell Observatory astronomer Deidre Hunter and her team studies small, diffuse galaxies to learn about star formation in those regions and, perhaps, shed light on the birth of the first stars after the Big Bang Released  February 25, 2010
		Titan: A Climate Out of This World Researchers using ground-based telescopes and space probes make amazing discoveries about the atmospheric cycle of Saturn’s largest moon, and find similarities to Earth Released  January 7, 2010
		Monitoring and Predicting Extraterrestrial Weather Scientists adapt a weather research and forecasting tool to model global weather on the Earth, Mars and beyond Released  September 22, 2009
		Methane Clouds Observed Near Titan's Equator May Explain Presence of Riverbeds on the Surface The Huygens probe discovered fluid-formed channels in the arid equatorial regions of Titan, Saturn's largest moon Released  August 12, 2009
		New Supernova Is Discovered by Young Citizen Scientist Caroline Moore's discovery has made experts question how stars die Released  July 9, 2009
		2008: Year in Review A look back at some of the NSF-supported advances and activities that made news last year Released  March 13, 2009
		Shockwave of X-ray Starquake Enthralls Scientists For postdoctoral researcher Andrew Steiner and other astrophysicists, the shockwave that jolted the Earth in late December 2005 was a lucky find, providing new data on neutron stars Released  March 2, 2009
		New Galactic Distance Measurements Increase Milky Way's Mass and Rotation Speed Galaxy is spinning faster and is 50 percent more massive than earlier studies indicated Released  January 30, 2009
		Magnetic Fields in Far Away Galaxies Observed to be 10 Times Stronger than those in Milky Way Conventional theories of star and galaxy formation challenged Released  November 12, 2008
		Archaeology of the Stars Michigan State researcher Timothy Beers studies the formation and evolution of stars born many billions of years before the Sun Released  September 17, 2008
		Cracking the Code of Images New software easily detects pictures' hidden messages Released  July 15, 2008
		Not a Quirk But a Quark ... a Quark Star! Super-luminous stellar explosion observed via Caltech's Palomar Observatory, possibly resulting in a quark star Released  June 26, 2008
		International Gemini Observatory Captures Birth of a Supernova Stellar discovery marks a new epoc in astronomical research Released  May 28, 2008
		2007: Year in Review A look back at some of the NSF-supported advances and activities reported last year Released  January 30, 2008
		Search Is on for Hot Young Stars Long duration gamma-ray bursts allow astronomers to collect more information than ever imagined Released  September 21, 2007
		Planetary Construction Zone? Astronomers detect the beginnings of planet formation in a dusty disk surrounding a nearby star Released  July 5, 2007
		2006: Year in Review A look back at some of the NSF-supported activities highlighted last year Released  January 9, 2007
		Teachers Strike Scientific Gold at Kitt Peak Workshop participants take lucky images of a brand-new supernova Released  August 26, 2005
		New Mexico Graduate Student Receives Costa Rica's Top Science Honor At 26, Esteban Araya is the youngest person to ever receive the top science award from his native Costa Rica. A graduate student in astronomy at New Mexico Tech, Araya was honored for his research into the formation of massive stars. Released  August 5, 2005
		Star Killed by Companion Bizarre remains bear silent witness Released  March 2, 2005