NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast

While artificial intelligence-driven technology is promising practical solutions to global challenges, AI-driven research advances the frontiers of knowledge and propels American ingenuity. Sethuraman Panchanathan, the 15th director of the U.S. National Science Foundation, discusses the current state of AI and the many ways it may be used in the future.

The sustained influx of fentanyl and other illicit drugs has had a profound impact on the lives of Americans. Louise Shelley, a professor emerita at George Mason University, discusses fentanyl, illicit trafficking networks and work on how criminal supply chains are being interrupted by scientific research.

Since 1964, the deep submergence vehicle Alvin has played major roles in sea discovery, from lost hydrogen bombs to hydrothermal vents and the first survey of the wreck of the RMS Titanic. Kaitlyn Beardshear, electrical engineer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and a pilot of Alvin, discuses the submersible's history, sea exploration and discoveries in the ocean's depths.

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.

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.

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.

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.  

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.

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.  

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.

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.

Advances in materials science and rapidly developing technologies are leading to new approaches to engineering concretes and building infrastructure. Reza Moini, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Princeton University, discusses his work with concrete, 3D-printing techniques and how his lab takes inspiration from nature as it works to reimagine the future of building materials.

Plastics are foundational in modern life, but only a fraction of those produced are recycled. WashU researchers Arpita Bose, associate professor of biology; Eric Conners, a graduate student; and Tahina Ranaivoarisoa, a lab manager in the Bose Lab, discuss purple bacteria and how they might be used to produce biodegradable bioplastics.