national science foundation

Jill Biden and India’s Modi visit National Science Foundation

By Darlene Superville, Associated Press

This image, which is brimming with stars and dark dust clouds, is a small extract — a mere pinprick — of the full Dark Energy Camera Plane Survey (DECaPS2) of the Milky Way. The new dataset contains a staggering 3.32 billion celestial objects — arguably the largest such catalog so far. The data for this unprecedented survey were taken with the US Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera at the NSF’s Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a Program of NOIRLab. Photo provided by DECaPS2/ DOE/ FNAL/ DECam/ CTIO/ NOIRLab/ NSF/ AURA

Galactic photo shoot captures over 3 billion stars

A dark-energy camera on a telescope in Chile made the observations over two years, focusing on the Southern Hemisphere sky. Results were released this week.

By Marcia Dunn, Associated Press

WATCH: Senate Appropriations Committee holds hearing on National Science Foundation funding

The Senate Appropriations Committee held a hearing on the National Science Foundation funding on Tuesday.

By News Desk

This is not an actual image of a black hole. This artist’s impression shows the surroundings of a supermassive black hole, typical of that found at the heart of many galaxies. The black hole itself is surrounded by a brilliant accretion disc of very hot, infalling material and, further out, a dusty torus. There are also often high-speed jets of material ejected at the black hole’s poles that can extend huge distances into space. Illustration and caption by European Southern Observatory

WATCH: What does a black hole look like? Scientists reveal the first picture

The Event Horizon Telescope is expected to release the first image of a black hole on Wednesday. In preparation for what might be a momentous day, here’s what you need to know.

By Nsikan Akpan

What is a blazar? Its high-energy flares could unlock the foundations of the universe

How 300 scientists in 12 countries across four continents detected one of the universe's most elusive particles.

By Amanda Grennell

Neutron star collision offers new source of gravitational waves

By Rashmi Shivni

Astronomers have discovered a collision of neutron stars that released both a stream of gravitational waves and a flash of light, backing one of Einstein's theories.

What Trump’s budget proposal means for science, health and tech

By Nsikan Akpan, Laura Santhanam

The White House’s full budget request for 2018 seeks sharp cuts to cancer research, climate science and children’s health insurance.

World’s largest radio telescope faces retirement due to stagnant funding

By Sarah Scoles, Scientific American

The National Science Foundation is considering pulling its support from the famous Arecibo radio dish in Puerto Rico…

Just how much ice is left underneath Alaska’s glaciers? Scientists dig to find out

By Rebecca Jacobson, Inside Energy

Alaska's glaciers are facing a warm future. Scientists are digging into the icy giants to learn more about how they have weathered past climate changes, and if they will survive.