EurekAlert! National Science Foundation - NSF Funded Research News

NSF Funded Research News

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 23-Oct-2026 16:17 ET (23-Oct-2026 20:17 GMT/UTC)

Researchers put “silly sprinklers” in reverse to further unravel decades-old physics puzzle

New York University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

For decades scientists have been trying to solve Feynman’s Sprinkler Problem: How does a sprinkler running in reverse—in which the water flows into the device rather than out of it—work? Through a series of experiments on custom-designed sprinklers with different shapes, a team of mathematicians arrived at a clear answer and, more generally, have determined how flowing fluids exert forces and move structures.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Metals’ atomic arrangement can create ‘corrosion highways’ in nuclear reactors

Penn State
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Using computer simulations, a team led by engineers at Penn State found that adjusting subtle atomic arrangements — even in identical baseline chemical compositions — can affect the metal corrosion rate and extent caused by the extreme chemical environment in advanced nuclear reactors can start to corrode the metals comprising the reactor.

Journal: Corrosion Science

Melting icebergs can weaken a massive, far-off ocean current system

University of California - Davis
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Melting and breaking icebergs in the far-off Pacific Ocean can weaken a massive current system in the Atlantic Ocean, a UC Davis study finds.

Journal: Nature Communications

New technique sheds light on longstanding debates about ferroelectric materials

North Carolina State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New findings are shedding light on longstanding debates over the behavior of ferroelectric materials when those materials are exposed to electric fields. The findings stem from the use of a novel technique that allows researchers to observe the real-time behavior of domain walls in ferroelectric materials as they are “poled” and “depoled.”

Journal: Advanced Science
Funder: Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Office of Naval Research

New 3D thermal cloak hides objects from heat in any direction

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers have designed and built the first 3D device that can make objects invisible to heat, an advance that could transform how we protect sensitive electronics, manage heat in microchips and shield equipment from thermal detection.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: Villum Fonden, Air Force Office of Scientific Research

Researchers targeting drought-tolerance traits in crops

Colorado State University

Drought is a persistent issue in agriculture, so Colorado State University continually works to identify and develop drought-tolerance traits in crops to ensure farmers can remain competitive and provide food for people and livestock.

Funder: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Distributed antennas push the limits of high-frequency signals

Princeton University, Engineering School
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Princeton researchers have enabled advanced wireless beamforming techniques for high-frequency signals using off-the-shelf hardware, overturning assumptions about the practicality of advanced wireless systems.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: Air Force Office of Scientific Research

AI gets a cerebellum

Northwestern University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

By designing computers to behave more like the brain, engineers seek faster, more energy-efficient computing. Most researchers attempt to mimic the cerebrum, which underlies reasoning, memory and language. New device is first to mimic the cerebellum, the brain’s reflex center. Device identified abnormal heartbeats from ECGs within one-fifth of a heartbeat, 98% accuracy and 10,000 times fewer computer operations.

Journal: Nature Communications

Researchers confirm cause of Earth’s biggest mass extinction

Stanford University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Through experiments comparing living representatives of animal groups that dominated Paleozoic oceans with those that thrive today, Stanford scientists have directly linked the disappearance of once-dominant marine groups to intolerable heat and diminished oxygen in ancient oceans.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: NASA Exobiology Grant, Stanford Woods Center for the Environment

Plants get wearables to track their health

Tufts University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

By the time farmers see curling leaves or stunted growth in their fields, their crops may already have spent days under stress. A new innovation in plant “wearable” sensors aims to catch those distress signals earlier—before the plant visibly suffers, allowing farmers to respond and help their crops thrive.

Journal: ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
Funder: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

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