National Science Foundation - Where Discoveries Begin

Black Hole
The first ever image of a black hole captured by the Event Horizon Telescope.

Credit: Event Horizon Telescope collaboration et al.

Gravitational Waves
The detection of gravitational waves by NSF's Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) first occurred in 2016. Their discovery ushered in a new era in astrophysics: multi-messenger astronomy.

Credit: NCSA Gravity Group

Quantum Chip
Measuring just a bit smaller than the thickness of a dime, superconducting qubit chips are poised to transform diverse fields from chemistry to economics because of their computational processing power.

Credit: Michael T. Fang, Martinis Group, UC Santa Barbara

Quantum Teleportation
This artist's rendering captures the super-dense teleportation of quantum information. Using points on a donut shape, information is transmitted using a pair of shared hyper-entangled photons.

Credit: Image by Precision Graphics; copyright Paul Kwiat, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Energy-Efficient Laser
More sensitive, energy-efficient lasers may be possible by directing power to certain areas within a laser.

Credit: Omer Malik, Department of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University

Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
An expanding, ring-shaped cloud of ultracold atoms shares striking features with the early universe.

Credit: E. Edwards/JQI

Plasma Physics
The sun's corona is a blazing 18 million degrees F, but what is the source of all this heat? One possibility: jets of plasma, a hot, electrically charged gas, shooting up from just above the sun's surface.

Credit: Woeger, Rimmele & Marino, NSO/AURA/NSF

Quantum Physics
By isolating groups of a few atoms, such as these, and precisely measuring their multi-particle interactions within an atomic clock, scientists are moving closer to controlling quantum matter interactions.

Credit: Aki Goban, Ye group/JILA

Astrophysics
Day breaks at the operations support facility of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The international astronomy facility is a partnership of Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile.

Credit: ©ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)

National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
The National Science Foundation's National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, or National MagLab, is a global destination for ground-breaking research across scientific disciplines. Nearly 2,000 scientists from around the world use the MagLab's facilities each year, leveraging the power of high magnetic fields to explore new physical phenomena, develop materials for future generation technology, overcome energy challenges and increase our understanding of the human brain and life in general.

Credit: NSF