NSF's Discovery Files U.S. National Science Foundation

Kaitlyn Becker was working on her doctorate at Harvard University when she helped develop a soft robotic system that can handle complex objects by using entanglement grasping. She joins to explain how creatures of the sea inspired the robotic gripper and how it might be used in the future.

When you ask a smart device a question, there is a latency in the response due to the processing of your question taking place at a data center. What if you could process that query directly on the device?  Researcher Alex Sludds joins to explain a new edge computing architecture.  

  Gravity in space is at a minimum, providing an ideal environment for studying physics-related properties. Researcher Ingrid Tomac joins us to explain why her work with mudflow is being studied aboard the International Space Station. We are also joined by NSF Program Director Kendra McLauchlan.

The lack of gravity in space provides an ideal environment for studying physics-related properties. To take advantage of this opportunity, an unprecedented seven NSF-supported projects are being sent to the International Space Station. We'll hear from NSF Deputy Division Director William Olbricht and researchers Ranga Narayanan, Jason Livesay, Yangying Zhu, Sushil Bhavnani, Karthekeyan Sridhar, Jing Fan, Chunhui Xu, and Allen Liu on why these experiments are going to space and what they might teach us back home on Earth.

From out in space, high-energy particles bombard Earth and objects in our orbit with radiation that can endanger the lives of astronauts and destroy electronic equipment. Researcher Luca Comisso joins to explain his insights into the turbulent origins of these cosmic rays. 

As we move into flu season, virologist Joanna Shisler explains how viruses work and how we may avoid them. Engineer Gerri Botte tells us how she developed a COVID-19 sensor during the height of the pandemic.