Sikkel — who runs a marine laboratory at Arkansas State University — studies host-parasite-cleaner interactions on coral reefs, and the influences of changes in reef ecology triggered by climate change.



In addition to leading...

In this week’s episode of NSF Science Now we explore spiders’ silk, a bionic eye, coral reefs, and finally the sense of touch.

After a few days of incubating, molding and drying, these mushroom roots are ready to be used... as packaging material! Developed by a team of 20-somethings straight out of college, this biodegradable material is also fireproof and a...

Do non-human primates like chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys respond to inequity or unfairness the way humans do? Georgia State psychologist and neuroscientist, Sarah Brosnan is interested in finding out. Brosnan studies the behavior of...

CRISPR -- a DNA editing tool revolutionizing the scientific world. CRISPR gives scientists and laboratories the ability to cut out malfunctioning DNA and replace it with functioning DNA. To do this, scientists must first program...

In the past century, as the climate has warmed, sea level rise has accelerated. Scientists predict it will only increase, and they're studying changes in the ocean and land to better understand how and why the water is rising....

Cars that cover more distance with less fuel? Sure! If you replaced some of their steel and aluminum components and body parts with magnesium metal ones, you'd have automobiles that are as much as 50% lighter! That means they...

How has collecting data on child development changed over the years? Andrew Meltzoff, Co-Director of the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, answers your question in this edition of Ask a Scientist.

Available nitrogen is second only to water as the biggest constraint to biological activity in arid ecosystems, but ecologists have struggled to understand the balance of the input and output of nitrogen in deserts. However, researchers...

At Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, computer scientist Sebastian Thrun and his team of software engineers are creating a fleet of self-driving cars. His innovative approach to artificial intelligence is what makes...

What's the maker movement all about? FabLab creator Neil Gershenfeld of MIT talks about its impact and potential for the future, and tips his hat to the White House Maker Faire.

A team of University of Utah seismologists has discovered a reservoir of hot, partly molten rock hidden 12 to 28 miles beneath Yellowstone's supervolcano--enough to fill the 1000 cubic-mile-Grand Canyon more than 11 times. The pool...

What's it really like to be an engineer or a scientist? What do they really do all day? You're about to find out! Meet the next generation of engineers and scientists in these profiles of young professionals, who may just inspire you to...

In this week's episode, we explore cockroaches that provide clues to better locomotion, virtual reality therapy, and distant galaxies seen from the South Pole

Compare a boxy 1980s TV to the sleek high-definition TVs of today: That’s a 25-fold difference. Spencer Smith’s microscope is a 100-fold difference over the microscopes used today. Smith, of the University of North Carolina’s School of...

At the Consumer Electronics Show, CES 14, Innovega gave the National Science Foundation a demo of their contact lens, glasses technology that allows users to view things far in the distance and right in front of their...