All articles tagged with #nsf
New Mexico’s Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope—whose 250-ton optics floated on liquid mercury—is being demolished after mercury was found inside the tower; the hazardous bearing prompted NSF to remove the mercury and retire the instrument, with demolition planned for 2026 as researchers shift to Hawaii’s newer Inouye Solar Telescope.
The 2020 collapse of the Arecibo Observatory’s 1,000-foot dish after main cables failed marked the end of 57 years of discoveries; the NSF elected not to rebuild and redirected the site to a STEM education center (Arecibo C3), preserving the heritage while repurposing the valley for education.
An American involved with the U.S. Antarctic Program was evacuated from McMurdo Station to Christchurch Hospital in serious condition on July 31, 2026, in a hazardous winter-operation supported by the Australian Antarctic Division, Skytraders, and the New Zealand Defense Force, with NSF coordination and consular assistance from the State Department; authorities have not released further details about the patient.
Scientists released the Sun’s most detailed surface image yet, captured by the National Solar Observatory and provided by the NSF. The ultra-high-resolution image highlights fine solar features and showcases advances in solar imaging, offering researchers a closer look at the Sun’s dynamic surface.
NSF will fund about $321 million to the RETI Engine led by West Virginia University with the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University and 60 partners to build a regional energy-innovation hub in Appalachia. The project includes up to $160 million from NSF and $161 million from industry and partners over a decade, aiming to spur energy resilience, grid management, AI-enabled tech, storage, and advanced manufacturing, with projected impacts of ~21,000 jobs, 150 startups, and over $1 billion in regional growth.
The National Science Foundation is funding five new teams—joining four from 2025—with $20 million to design experimental quantum technologies via the National Quantum Virtual Laboratory. Each team will receive $4 million over two years to develop integrated systems in sensors, networks and computing and to prepare for implementation in 2026. The effort includes partnerships with federal labs, industry and educators, and aims to translate quantum research into real-world applications while expanding the quantum workforce.
Facing bipartisan backlash, the National Science Foundation halted plans to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative, keeping the data network online, continuing maintenance, and organizing stakeholder input and an expert panel to chart a sustainable path. A bipartisan Senate bill also blocks decommissioning until a thorough review is completed, and the Endurance Array will be redeployed after servicing, underscoring the network’s importance for climate research and weather forecasting.
After bipartisan backlash in Congress, the National Science Foundation halted plans to remove equipment from the Ocean Observatories Initiative, will convene experts to chart a sustainable path forward, and pledged to redeploy remaining assets rather than further descale the decade-old, 900-instrument network that provides vital climate data.
The National Science Foundation reversed its plan to dismantle the ocean-observing network after public outcry, keeping the program intact to continue collecting vital oceanographic and climate data.
The Trump administration plans to remove over 900 deep-sea instruments from the Ocean Observatories Initiative, dismantling four arrays in the Atlantic and Pacific as part of a shift to a leaner lifecycle approach. NSF says it is not canceling ocean science, but prioritizing evolving priorities and technologies, with only the Regional Cabled Array remaining. The cut threatens long-running, real-time data on ocean conditions and the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), potentially hindering climate research and monitoring, even as a substantial 2026 funding cut was proposed elsewhere in the NSF budget.
Under NSF's descoping push, four Ocean Observatories Initiative arrays are being dismantled—off the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, North Carolina, and Greenland—with most in-water equipment to be removed by 2027, including Washington’s Coastal Endurance Array already taken out; only Oregon’s Regional Cabled Array remains, prompting concerns about loss of long-term ocean data for science, fisheries, and maritime safety.
The Trump administration will dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a $368 million deep-ocean monitoring network with about 900 instruments across the Pacific and Atlantic, removing in-water infrastructure over 15 months. Scientists warn the move could hamper fisheries management, weather forecasting, and understanding the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation amid record ocean warming and an impending El Niño.
The National Science Foundation announced a plan to descope the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a $368 million, 900-instrument deep-sea network that has provided data on ocean currents, climate variability, and marine ecosystems since 2016. The phased removal of in-water infrastructure at sites off North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and in the Irminger Sea will take about 15 months and ends continuous monitoring after more than a decade. Scientists and Democratic lawmakers criticized the move as short-sighted and warned it could create a data gap and complicate future rebuilding, even as NSF says the program is not canceled and aims to prioritize evolving priorities and technologies.
A federal judge in Denver issued a 38-page injunction blocking the federal government’s plan to divest NCAR’s Wyoming-based supercomputing center and hand it to the University of Wyoming, ruling NSF’s decision flawed and likely to harm operations. The move, framed by UCAR as politically motivated retaliation, risks expert losses and disruption to atmospheric research, prompting continued litigation while the center’s operations are protected for now.
NSF's Green Bank Telescope tracked NASA's Artemis 2 Orion capsule around the Moon for five days from more than 213,000 miles away, delivering distance and Doppler measurements that matched NASA projections to about 0.2 millimeters per second and producing a pixelated image of the spacecraft with a scientist noting “there are four people in those pixels.” The observations illustrate how a giant radio telescope can assist future space missions and radar-related efforts, highlighting the Green Bank Telescope’s role as the largest moving structure on land.