Science Matters

#NSFstories: Breaking boundaries and escaping boxes

February 12, 2020

When she was young, Ayanna Howard was encouraged to be fearless. The firstborn of an engineer, Ayanna’s father taught her to solder electronics by the age of 10. “I burned my fingers and took things…

Yellow and orange colored light creates a ring around the edges of a black hole.

Why are black holes so camera shy?

April 9, 2020

April 10, 2020, marks the one year anniversary of when the Event Horizon Telescope released its revolutionary image of a black hole. Here’s how it was captured:

A woman and a child sit at a table with worksheets in front of them

7 ways to help your kids with math homework

March 30, 2020

As schools across the country remain closed as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are republishing this article as a resource for parents and caregivers taking on homeschooling responsibilities…

desktop covered with educational items and a laptop

Seven NSF-supported STEM resources that are perfect for at-home learning

March 18, 2020

With schools across the country closing their doors to restrict the spread of the COVID-19 virus, nearly 30 million students in almost every state are facing disruption to their daily education. NSF…

Woman looking at floating computer screen

Supporting the Foundation of Fairness in AI

March 11, 2020

Artificial intelligence is everywhere – in your smartphone, your TV, your social media feed. That can be good. AI can give you everything from improved health care to personalized movie picks. But it…

What's on the menu? The sun, with a side of cheese curds

February 6, 2020

On Jan. 31, the world stared directly at the sun. Why? The National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope revealed the highest resolution image of the sun’s surface. While those first…

Empathy and engineering: Q&A with Lexi Dixon

February 5, 2020

Lexi Dixon, a junior from Kansas City, Missouri, loves music, singing, robots and working with her hands. Her school’s FIRST Robotics team builds cars for children with mobility impairments through…

#NSFstories: Where the Wild Things are

February 5, 2020

According to her big brother, Brooklynn has always been an angel. But to hear Rachel Enos, Brooklynn’s mother, tell it, her three-year-old daughter is more like a Hells Angel ever since she brought…