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“Forever chemicals” are everywhere — from Teflon pans and dental floss to raincoats and microwave popcorn bags. Known as PFAS, these chemicals (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are noted for their resistance to heat, oil and water. That same staying power makes them a growing concern. PFAS have been linked to a range of serious health risks, including increased risk of certain cancers, fertility issues, immune system dysfunction and developmental problems. Because PFAS remain in water, soil and air for a long time (hence the name “forever chemicals”), removing them from the environment has become a public priority.  

Earlier this year, a team of scientists from Rice University (including U.S. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program alum Kevin Wyss) announced the development of a new method to break down PFAS that is not only extremely effective (removing 99.98% of the most common PFAS pollutant), but also creates the valuable manufacturing material graphene, one of the world’s strongest and lightest materials.  

This pioneering method involves combining PFAS with granular activated carbon and salts, then heating it to over 3,000 degrees Celsius in under a second. The intense heat breaks the chemical bonds in PFAS, turning them into harmless fluoride salts. At the same time, the activated carbon in the mixture is turned into graphene, which is used in industries such as manufacturing, electronics

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The fourth state of matter, plasma, is involved in several aspects of how modern microelectronic components are manufactured. Jeremiah Williams, a professor at Wittenberg University and a program director at the U.S. National Science Foundation, discusses how plasmas are used in semiconductor manufacturing and how understanding plasma physics spurs industrial innovation.

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Researchers supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation have discovered that it is not how much of a key molecule that allows axolotls to regenerate limbs properly, it is how little. This new knowledge moves researchers closer to enabling tissue repair and, possibly, limb regeneration in humans.

“Axolotls are a species of salamander that have the ability to regrow limbs and repair organ tissue,” said Anna Allen, a program officer in the NSF Directorate for Biological Sciences. “Based on previous work, researchers knew that a particular molecule told cells to start the process of regrowth but how cells knew where they were along a limb and, therefore, what structure to build in that location remained a mystery.”

The new work, led by James Monaghan, a professor of biology and director of the Institute for Chemical Imaging of Living Systems at Northeastern University, shows that the key is how that critical molecule, retinoic acid, degrades. An enzyme whose only job is to destroy retinoic acid is extremely prevalent at the far end of the limb (the wrist) but much less prevalent at the shoulder, meaning the reverse for retinoic acid. It is this decreasing amount of retinoic acid that allows the cells to know if they are at the shoulder, mid-limb, or wrist.

Building on their findings, the researchers used CRISPR technology to turn off certain

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The U.S. National Science Foundation released the first Sexual Assault and Harassment Climate Survey (SAHCS) findings report for the United States Antarctic Program (USAP).

Results from the survey help expand agency understanding of sexual assault and harassment, bystander experience, as well as workplace satisfaction and cultural norms within the USAP community, and will inform NSF decisions and policies.

“NSF is committed to fostering and maintaining a culture free from sexual violence and harassment throughout the United States Antarctic Program,” said Special Assistant to the Director for SAHPR Renée Ferranti. “I’m grateful to those who participated in the survey, giving NSF a stronger understanding of how to build an environment where every member of the Antarctic community feels safe and supported.”

NSF will use the survey data as a baseline program metric and intends to provide SAHCS to USAP community members periodically. The results of the USAP SAHCS will help NSF to understand the incidence and prevalence of sexual misconduct in the USAP and to gather baseline data on sexual assault and sexual harassment and bystander experience, as well as workplace satisfaction and cultural norms data within the community so NSF can continue to improve ongoing prevention and response efforts.

In addition to the SAHCS, NSF implemented several new actions and policies following the release of a 2022 NSF-commissioned report focused on the prevalence of sexual assault

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