In a new study published in the journal Virtual Reality, University of Maryland scientists used electroencephalography (EEG) to identify changes in brain wave activity while participants viewed virtual content designed to induce cybersickness. The findings offer real-time signals that could help designers detect and reduce cybersickness symptoms as they occur.

The NSF grant will support the development of an integrated research and training framework for AI-enabled robotics and cyber-physical systems. Over four years, the project will combine artificial intelligence, advanced computing, digital twins and hands-on robotics experimentation to prepare students and researchers to develop and test intelligent systems in virtual and real-world environments.

Boise State assistant professor and avian biologist, Stephanie Galla won an NSF EPSCoR fellowship to study why some bird subspecies survive while others decline, focusing on the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, which has lost about 95% of its range over the past century.

Her team is curious about whether the Columbian subspecies has, comparatively, lost more diversity than other subspecies; they also question when and how it broke off from other subspecies. Since policies like the Endangered Species Act organize threat status by taxonomic groups, the answers to these questions do more than satisfy curiosity: They help inform which species and subspecies need protection.