Investigating the impact of natural and human-made nanomaterials on living things

In recent years, the number and scale of wildfires in the U.S. has risen, threatening cities and forests, and forcing large-scale evacuations. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is supporting the WIFIRE initiative, led jointly by the University of California (UC), San Diego, and the University of Maryland, to better monitor, predict and mitigate wildfires in the future. WIFIRE merges observations, such as satellite imagery and real-time data from sensors in the field, with computational techniques like signal processing, visualization, modeling and data assimilation, to monitor environmental conditions and predict where and how fast a wildfire will spread. The project is part of the NSF Hazards SEES program, which enhances sustainability through the use of advanced technologies and new methods. Participants in WIFIRE include researchers from the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology's (Calit2) Qualcomm Institute, and the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) department at UC San Diego's Jacobs School of Engineering. Also participating in the project is the University of Maryland's Department of Fire Protection Engineering. The research in this episode was supported by NSF award #1331615, Hazards SEES Type 2: WIFIRE: A Scalable Data-Driven Monitoring, Dynamic Prediction and Resilience Cyberinfrastructure for Wildfires. Grant #/URL: http://nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1331615&HistoricalAwards=false Miles O'Brien, Science Nation Correspondent Ann Kellan, Science Nation Producer

With support from the National Science Foundation, this University of Michigan team has built a new laser-based instrument called a quantum entanglement microscope. They’re using entangled photons in microscopy, research that was virtually impossible only a decade ago. The microscope generates high resolution images with low intensity beams, enabling the team to image delicate samples, such as living cells, without damaging them. Quantum entangled microscopy is an example of how quantum research is opening the door to advances in all the sciences. The research in this episode was supported by these NSF grants: #1607949 “Entangled Photon Imaging and Microscopy for Chemical and Biological Investigations” and #1836374 “QLC: EAGER: Collaborative Research: Developing Experiment and Theory for Entangled Photon Spectroscopy.”

With support from the National Science Foundation, electrical engineer Yan Wan and a team at the University of Texas at Arlington are developing a new generation of "networked" unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to bring long distance, broadband communications capability to first responders in the field. The research in this episode was supported by NSF grants #1714519 "CAREER: Co-Design of Networking and Decentralized Control to Enable Aerial Networks in an Uncertain Airspace" and #1522458 "EAGER: Aerial Communication Infrastructure for Smart Emergency Response."

With support from NSF, engineers Pablo Zavattieri and Santiago Pujol of Purdue University and Nilesh Mankame of General Motors Global R&D are collaborating to create architected materials with microstructures that can out-perform the natural systems that inspired them. The team is focused, in part, on improving the energy absorption of materials to increase safety and comfort. Think earthquake-resilient buildings, low turbulence air travel, safer sports helmets, and scratch and dent resistant cars. And some of their inspiration is coming from solutions evolution has engineered into natural materials, from honeycombs to woodpecker beaks. Many students also contribute to this research, including William G. Pollalis, Prateek P. Shah, Charles S. Kerby, Yunlan Zhang, and Kristiaan Hector, in addition to Reza Moini, who is featured in the video. The engineering research for this episode is supported by these NSF grants: #1538898 GOALI: Phase Transforming Cellular Materials, #1254864 CAREER: Multiscale Investigation and Mimicry of Naturally Occurring Ultra High-Performance Composite Materials, and #1562927 Collaborative Research: 3D Printing of Civil Infrastructure Materials with Controlled Microstructural Architectures, with co-principal investigators Jan Olek and Jeffrey Youngblood. Some of the research has been conducted in the Robert L. and Terry L. Bowen Laboratory for Large-Scale Civil Engineering Research at Purdue University.

With support from NSF, a multidisciplinary team of material scientists, engineers and architects is using nature-inspired design and new materials to create smart building skins. A smart skin enables a building to function much like elements of some living systems. It allows a building to "breathe," but independent of centralized control. This Texas A&M University team is exploring the use of smart materials, such as shape memory alloys and stimuli-responsive polymers, in a variety of approaches to produce building systems that function in concert with the environment. NSF supports fundamental research that will shape the future of the nation's constructed civil infrastructure in the context of the natural environment, technological innovations and societal needs. The research team includes the following scientists and engineers: Zofia Rybkowski, Negar Kalantar, Ergun Akleman, Tahir Cagin and Terry Creasy, as well as the following students: Ruaa Al-Mezrakchi, Nikita Bhagat, Diya Dhannoon, Daniel Hirsch, Hyoungsub Kim, Maryam Mansoori, William Palmer and Saied Zarrinmehr. The research in this episode was supported by NSF grant #1548243, "EAGER: Interaction of Smart Materials for Transparent, Self-regulating Building Skins."

Spadefoot toads are master "shape-shifters," able to make drastic changes to their form and behavior in response to their environment. They're excellent candidates for research on plasticity in nature, or the ability of an organism to adapt to environmental changes or differences in habitats. With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), evolutionary biologists David and Karin Pfennig and their teams at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study spadefoots to better understand the role plasticity plays in adaptive evolution. The research in this episode was supported by NSF grants #1643239, "EAGER: Does Adaptation Facilitate or Constrain Further Adaptation? Evaluating the Origins of Character Displacement;" #1753865 "Collaborative proposal: Evaluating phenotypic plasticity's role in adaptive evolution;" and #1555520, "Behavioral Dysfunction and the Evolution of Reproductive Isolation between Species."

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Megan Leftwich and her students at Georgie Washington University are conducting a comprehensive field study on the high-performance swimming of sea lions. With support from the National Science Foundation, the mechanical engineer aims to describe mathematically the unique style of these agile swimmers.

Renowned chemist, geochemist and materials scientist Alexandra Navrotsky has become a pioneer in her field over the last 50 years. She even has a mineral named after her – Navrotskyite. With support from the National Science Foundation, Navrotsky and her team at University of California, Davis (moving to Arizona State University) have invented an instrument to study high temperature materials, including rare earth oxides.

A University of Florida team is starting to gather real-time data on the impact of waves and rising water on bridges during hurricanes. Unlike studies that rely on tests in wave laboratories, this research will use data transmitted directly from bridges during actual storms. With support from the National Science Foundation, civil engineering Professor Jennifer Bridge and her students are investigating how best to provide early warning to communities when a bridge is in danger of failing due to storm damage.