NSF’s top 5 science and engineering innovations of 2021

 

POSTED ON Jan 14, 2022

 

A Covid-19 vaccine spray, communicating with sleeping people, and a new black hole discovery were some of the discoveries made possible by support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) last year. According to the agency that supports research and education in all non-medical fields of science and engineering (S&E), 2021 was “incredible for discoveries” among scientists, engineers, and innovators.

Here’s what made the NSF discovery and innovation list:

1. COVID-19 vaccine spray: “A single vaccine that protects against multiple COVID-19 variants and can be transported without the “cold chain” required for current vaccines is key to curtailing the worldwide epidemic,” said Renata Pasqualini of Rutgers University, who co-led the study.

2. New black hole discovery: “We are now seeing the next crucial piece of evidence to understand how magnetic fields behave around black holes,” says Monika Mościbrodzka of Radboud University in the Netherlands, coordinator of the EHT Polarimetry Working Group.

3. Smart cement: Researchers added nanomaterials to cement. “The role of nanoparticles in this application has not been understood before now, so this is a major breakthrough,” civil and environmental engineer Ange-Therese Akono said.

4. Forest fires and climate change: A team used charcoal found in lake sediments to piece together the fire history of forests.

5. Communicating with sleeping people: Northwestern University scientists played randomly selected audio recordings of simple math problems to sleeping people. “We know that a great deal of cognitive processing takes place during sleep. This discovery points to an entirely new way to explore not only how sleep affects our memory but also how we solve problems and think creatively when we’re awake,” says Betty Tuller, co-director of the NSF Perception, Action & Cognition program, which supported the research.