Episodes

  • A Look Back at 2024
    Jan 6 2025

    From advances in the use of artificial intelligence and new guidance into its research to breakthroughs in biological treatments and approaches to healing to how we measure time, discoveries in many areas were revealed by U.S. National Science Foundation-supported researchers in 2024. As we start a new year, we're looking back at memorable moments from some of the most popular episodes of the last year.

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    20 mins
  • MXenes
    Dec 30 2024

    Innovation in materials science allows for the improvement of technologies and the exploration of new ones. In this episode of the "NSF's Discovery Files" podcast, Yury Gogotsi, professor at the Drexel University College of Engineering, discusses how MXenes were discovered and some of the ways they may be used in the future.

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    25 mins
  • Treating Drinking Water
    Dec 23 2024

    Modern Americans benefit from centuries of improvements in drinking water safety. In this episode of the "NSF's Discovery Files" podcast, Julian Fairey, associate professor in the University of Arkansas Department of Civil Engineering, discusses how drinking water is treated and how he helped identify a disinfection byproduct.

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    21 mins
  • Advancing Laser Technology
    Dec 16 2024

    New and advanced lasers are necessary to understand the complicated high energy, fast bursts of light occurring at the most extreme conditions in the universe. Franklin Dollar, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Irvine, discusses lasers, how they're used to understand physics and how powerful the next generation of lasers will be.

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    18 mins
  • Perovskites and Materials Science
    Dec 9 2024

    Materials scientists and engineers are working to develop and advance materials and devices that harvest energy from light, resulting in more efficient solar cell technologies. In this episode of the "NSF's Discovery Files" podcast, Aram Amassian, a professor at North Carolina State University, discusses light technologies and developing more efficient perovskite solar cells.

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    19 mins
  • Bioengineering Kidneys
    Dec 2 2024

    Kidneys are essential for keeping the body functioning but one in seven Americans suffer from kidney disease. Alex Hughes, assistant professor of bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, discusses the kidney's role in the body, its structure and how his lab is working to grow new kidney tissues.

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    22 mins
  • History Trapped In Ice
    Nov 25 2024

    Ice cores allow scientists to reconstruct climate conditions far into the past. Peter Neff, an assistant professor in the University of Minnesota Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, discusses the process of collecting ice cores, how data is obtained from them and what the past may teach us about the future.

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    20 mins
  • Leonid Meteor Shower
    Nov 18 2024

    Every fall, the Leonid meteor shower puts on an amazing display with observers counting numbers from thousands to tens of thousands of meteors per hour. Joe Pesce, an astrophysicist with the U.S. National Science Foundation, discusses meteor showers, why they occur and how to view the Leonid meteor shower.

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    11 mins