Over 100 shipwrecks that sank to the frigid depths of Lake Huron in Alpena, Michigan, are being rediscovered thanks to advances in robotics. ⚓🤖
New developments in machine learning are enabling underwater robots to explore remote areas, like "Shipwreck Alley" in the @NOAA Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and to collect data to train models to detect shipwrecks from sonar.
In the latest episode of the "NSF's Discovery Files" podcast, learn how NSF-funded researchers are enhancing robotics by combining computer vision with AI and machine learning. Watch the episode to learn more, link in bio. 🚢
📷: Image courtesy of the Machine Learning for Automated Detection of Shipwreck Sites from Large Area Robotic Surveys Year 1 Expedition.
The AI4Shipwrecks dataset was supported by the NOAA Ocean Exploration program under Award #NA21OAR0110196.
#science #robotics
Under the Milky Way's swirl of gas and dust, the dome of NSF-DOE Vera C. @Rubin_Observatory , funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and @energy 's Office of Science, stands open, ready to scan the Southern Hemisphere sky.🔭✨
With its powerful Legacy Survey of Space and Time Camera, Rubin will capture some of the faintest objects ever observed, revealing billions of stars and galaxies, millions of supernovas and creating a catalog of interstellar objects.
From testing theories of dark matter and uncovering clues about the universe to exploring the aftermath of cosmic collisions, this is a new era of discovery.
📸: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/H. Stockebrand
#astronomy #CaptureTheCosmos #science
When the night sky ignites with vibrant, dancing colors, you are not just seeing a beautiful sight, you are witnessing space weather in action.
Understanding the complex feedback loop between the sun and Earth's system is critical to combatting space weather hazards. Ongoing NSF-supported research is working to predict space weather events that can interfere with satellite, air travel, power grids and more, protecting public and national security.
Learn more in the link in bio.
📸: Benjamin Eberhardt
#NSFfunded #space #astronomy
Polymers, the tiny "beads" that link molecules together, form the foundation of many modern materials, from plastic bottles to artificial organs to protective armor.
NSF has funded polymer science since the 1970s, and these investments have led to stronger, more adaptable, and more sustainable materials. Polymers can be found in both synthetic materials, like nylon fabric and acrylics, and natural materials, like silk and rubber, showcasing their customizable nature.
Learn about how NSF is driving advances in polymer design and advanced materials at the link in bio.
Photographed is a 3D-printed lattice from #NSFfunded research at the University of Virginia. All their structures are printed using soft, stretchable resins.
📸: Liheng Cai, University of Virginia
#science #polymers
Artificial intelligence gets a lesson in deep-sea taxonomy. 🪼🦑
NSF-supported researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute Video Lab have combed through thousands of hours of deep-sea footage to identify and label animals and objects, creating training data that improves the accuracy of #imagerecognition AI used to classify ocean life.
Image recognition, a subfield of AI that NSF has been investing in since the 1960s, with more than $1 billion in funding, enables computers to identify and classify visual data in digital images and videos. This advanced technology relies on #machinelearning, where algorithms learn to recognize visual patterns by analyzing millions of images.
Learn more about how NSF's investments in visual technology are revolutionizing the way we interact with the world, and even the deep sea, in our link in bio.
📷: Ocean Vision AI
Supercomputers are in a league of their own — the fastest, most powerful machines on the planet. 🌐
By combining thousands of interconnected systems, they tackle massive, complex datasets that push the limits of science and engineering, from helping forecast extreme weather to cutting-edge artificial intelligence.
This remarkable progress did not happen overnight. In the early 1980s, NSF investments in Supercomputer Centers and in NSFNET helped lay the foundation for the high-speed networks — and internet — we rely on today.
From then until now, supercomputing has continued to drive discovery at an incredible scale.
Learn more in the link in bio.
📸: Peng Lin (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)
#supercomputers #science #NSFfunded
This week, get your eyes to the sky for a rare planetary parade. 🪐
A planetary parade occurs when three to eight planets align on the same side of the sun. From Earth, we will see them in a straight line across the sky. In this particular parade, you can spot Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn with the naked eye, but you will need a telescope to view Uranus and Neptune. 🔭
This alignment will reach its peak on Feb. 28 but will be visible a couple of days before and after.
🎥: U.S. National Science Foundation
#astronomy #science #space #solarsystem
The night sky is ever-changing, and we're capturing it. 📸
NSF-DOE Vera C. @Rubin_Observatory has released its first scientific alerts, enabling dynamic, real-time observation of the night sky.
On the night of Feb. 24, Rubin Observatory released 800,000 alerts, including detections of supernovae, variable stars, active galactic nuclei and objects such as asteroids whizzing around the solar system.
Each alert signals something that has changed in the sky since Rubin last looked. The beginning of scientific alerts is one of the last major milestones before Rubin Observatory begins its Legacy Survey of Space and Time later this year. This milestone marks the launch of a system expected to eventually produce up to 7 million alerts per night.
NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory is jointly funded by NSF and @energy 's Office of Science.
#CaptureTheCosmos #NSFfunded #RubinObservatory #cosmos #universe
Seeing double? It could be a digital twin.
A digital twin is a virtual replica of a real-world object, system or process, allowing researchers and engineers to test scenarios before taking action. It can represent almost anything and is being used to improve safety, infrastructure, quantum networks and more.
In biomedicine, in partnership with other agencies, the NSF Foundations for Digital Twins as Catalyzers of Biomedical Technological Innovation helped develop the Diffeomorphic Mapping Operator Learning (DIMON) (illustrated above) to study hearts. DIMON helped researchers study cardiac arrhythmia, identify patients at risk and recommend treatments.
🎥: Mingling Yin/Johns Hopkins University
#NSFfunded #science
🌞 Hard to believe it's been six years since the NSF Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope produced the first detailed images of the Sun’s surface, revealing unprecedented detail and ushering in a new era of solar science and our understanding of the sun and its impact on Earth.
📷: @NationalSolarObservatory / @AURAastronomy / @NSFgov
#sun #Earth #science #NSFfunded
In 2025, the NSF-DOE @Rubin_Observatory hit a historic milestone, capturing its first images in just hours of test observations. Millions of galaxies and thousands of asteroids appeared in its view, previewing its upcoming 10-year survey that will collect more data in its first year than all previous observatories combined, empowering researchers and fueling discoveries about dark matter, galaxy formation and planetary defense.
📷: NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory
#RubinFirstLook #cosmos #NSFfunded #universe #CaptureTheCosmos
NSF-funded researchers are laser-focused.
The NSF Zettawatt-Equivalent Ultrashort pulse laser System (NSF ZEUS) is the most powerful laser in the United States. Available to scientists nationwide, NSF ZEUS has roughly double the power of other U.S. lasers, enabling groundbreaking discoveries and accelerating research and development efforts across the nation. The laser holds the potential to improve medicine, national security, materials science, quantum physics and more.
📷: Jeremy Marble/Michigan News and Evan Dougherty/Michigan Engineering
#NSFfunded #science #lasers
