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PODCAST

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast

U.S. National Science Foundation

This is the Discovery Files Podcast from the U.S. National Science Foundation. Join us as we explore the latest breakthroughs in science, technology and engineering with the researchers making these discoveries. Learn how scientific innovation bolsters the U.S. economy, supports our Nation’s interests around the globe, and improves the lives of Americans.

science

All Episodes

16:32

Light From Cosmic Dawn

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast ·

2025/06/16

U.S. National Science Foundation-supported observatories allow researchers to advance and expand humanity’s understanding of the early universe. Tobias Marriage, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, and Yunyang Li, a postdoctoral researcher at The University of Chicago, discuss how they used the NSF Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor to see the cosmic microwave background, light from the beginning of the universe.

en

17:01

Smart Manufacturing

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast ·

2025/06/09

U.S. National Science Foundation-supported researchers are developing a multimodal system that combines image analysis and natural language processing to help manufacturers detect problems, suggest improvements and communicate with machines in real-time. Bingbing Li, a professor at California State University, Northridge, discusses his group's work with vision language models for use in smart manufacturing.

en

18:18

Lipocartilage and Regenerative Medicine

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast ·

2025/06/02

U.S. National Science Foundation-supported researchers are investigating the mechanisms of cell regeneration for medical treatments. Maksim Plikus, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, discusses lipocartilage, how his lab found it and its potential for advancing tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

en

14:24

Critical Minerals and Rare Earth Elements

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast ·

2025/05/26

Critical minerals are crucial to both the economy and national security. Rachel Teasdale, a professor at California State University, Chico, and program director in the U.S. National Science Foundation Division of Earth Sciences, discusses how critical minerals and rare earth elements form and how we use them.

en

20:29

Breakthrough Copper Alloy

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast ·

2025/05/20

As innovation transforms the aerospace, energy and defense industries, new materials with advanced properties are needed to meet the moment. Kiran Solanki, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Arizona State University, discusses designing new materials and enhancing existing ones for extreme condition applications.

en

20:49

Biomedical Security

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast ·

2025/05/12

Implantable medical devices are creating new therapeutic and monitoring solutions for many complex health conditions. However, wireless medical devices are susceptible to malicious attacks. Kaiyuan Yang, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice University, discusses biomedical security and developing hacker-resistant implants.

en

18:09

QR Code Security

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast ·

2025/05/05

QR codes are scanned every day for restaurant menus, parking payments or flight boarding passes, but malicious users can take advantage of the technology for phishing and other criminal activities. Gaurav Sharma and Irving Barron, professors at the University of Rochester, discuss QR code technology and how their research makes it safer.

en

22:16

Built Environment Materials

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast ·

2025/04/28

Concrete is the most widely used construction material in the world. Sabbie Miller, an Associate Professor at the University of California, Davis, discusses the built environment and optimizing infrastructure materials.

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18:57

Translational Research

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast ·

2025/04/21

Fundamental science can have a profound impact when discoveries and research are developed into tangible solutions that benefit the public. Ximena Bernal and Pablo Zavattieri, professors at Purdue University, discuss how their research into mosquitoes may translate into bio-inspired sensors that could help save lives.

en

20:16

The Role of Artificial Intelligence with Dr....

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast ·

2025/04/14

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.

en

18:49

Fentanyl and Illicit Trafficking

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast ·

2025/04/07

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.

en

14:29

Alvin

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast ·

2025/01/20

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.

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27:54

NSF Engines FARMS

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast ·

2025/01/13

The U.S. National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines program was established to advance collaborative, use-inspired and translational research and technology development in key technology focus areas across the United States. In this episode of the "NSF's Discovery Files" podcast, Hollie Mackey, CEO of The North Dakota Advanced Agriculture Technology Engine, discusses developing the next-generation farming workforce and how the unique conditions of North Dakota make it an ideal test bed

en

19:46

A Look Back at 2024

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast ·

2025/01/06

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.

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24:46

MXenes

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast ·

2024/12/30

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.

en

21:21

Treating Drinking Water

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast ·

2024/12/23

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.

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17:47

Advancing Laser Technology

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast ·

2024/12/16

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.

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19:08

Perovskites and Materials Science

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast ·

2024/12/09

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.

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22:17

Bioengineering Kidneys

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast ·

2024/12/02

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.

en

19:31

History Trapped In Ice

NSF’s Discovery Files Podcast ·

2024/11/25

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.

en

165 results

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