Evicting Science from D.C.: the NSF building and it's History Wall

 Evidently the NSF is taking up too much government real estate, here's the story from (appropriately enough) Scientific American:

Trump Administration Ousts National Science Foundation from Headquarters Building.  Employees at the National Science Foundation say they’ve been blindsided by a plan for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to take over their offices.  By Robin Bravender & E&E News 

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I certainly hope that the new occupants will treasure the building's U.S. National Science Foundation HISTORY WALL

 

 I'm particularly fond of tile 45 of the mosaic that makes up this mural: "45. Breakthroughs in economics inspired new software that streamlines organ matches like kidney exchanges."

Kidney exchange on the NSF History Wall

 

 Here's the description of the full history wall, and all the images.

U.S. National Science Foundation HISTORY WALL
A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR
"This beautiful mural provides an amazing visual history of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), spanning nearly 7 decades of scientific discovery and innovation and depicting NSF’s impact on the nation. This is a legacy that belongs to all of us, and to the nation.

"It is a sampling of NSF’s impact through curiosity-driven, discovery-based exploratory research and use-inspired, solutions-focused translational research. This mural epitomizes the mission of NSF — “To promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense.”
 
.
1. From biochemistry to weather prediction, supercomputing and
supercomputing centers maintain U.S. leadership in S&T.
2. NSF’s next generation Arctic Research Vessel, RV Sikuliaq.
3. Carbon nanotubes have novel properties yielding new applications.
4. PCR, essential to genomics, was developed from Yellowstone microbes.
5. NSF research helps predict and prevent disasters such as wildfires.
6. Brain-machine interfaces, like retinal prostheses, promise new
applications in health and communications.
7. Shake tables, like this one from the Network for Earthquake
Engineering Simulation, protect lives and property.
8. Geckos inspire the development of polymers and directional
adhesion materials.
9. NSF provides funding to start-ups like Google.
10. The first permanent telescope at Kitt Peak opened in 1960.
11. Understanding the biology and epidemiology of vector-borne illnesses
is the subject of ongoing multidisciplinary research.
12. Ice cores provide an environmental look back in time.
13. Shows like Peep and the Big Wide World improve pre-school education.
14. With the submersible Alvin, researchers first discovered life in the extreme
environment of deep-sea vents.
15. S&E Indicators provide a broad base of quantitative information
on U.S. and international science and engineering enterprise.
16. NSF and NSB recognize excellence with the Alan T. Waterman Award,
the Vannevar Bush Award, and the National Medal of Science.
17. NSF is a leader in Arctic research.
18. NSF-funded search & rescue robots improve disaster response.
19. NSF computing history is illustrated here by PLATO (Programmed
Logic for Automated Teaching Operations) in 1969.
20. An atomic-resolution structure of the HIV capsid.
21. NSF promotes informal scientific education and literacy through
its support of programming like NOVA.
22. NSF’s SBIR program strengthens the role of small business in federally
funded R&D, as it did in cellular technology in the 1990s.
23. From CSNET in 1981, to NSFNET and beyond, NSF has supported
innovations that helped create the Internet of today.
24. NSF is a leader in Antarctic research.
25. The LIGO observatories confirmed Einstein’s predicted gravity waves.
26. The bioluminescent green fluorescent protein (GFP) from jellyfish is
a powerful cellular biology research tool.
27. Sequencing the genome of Arabidopsis thaliana paved the way for a
deeper understanding food crops and other plants.
28. The Graduate Research Fellowship Program is NSF’s longest
continuously operating program.
29. NSF support of scanning and RFID technologies, like bar codes, has
helped revolutionize commerce and connectedness.
30. Mathematics is fundamental to S&T.
31. NSF’s First Grant Book recorded awards from FY1952-FY1959.
32. NSF support of archaeology enhances our understanding of where
we come from and who we are.
33. NSF researchers are studying the global decline in amphibian populations.
34. In electronics and material science, graphene’s unique electrical
and physical properties promise new breakthroughs.
35. Vannevar Bush’s vision made NSF’s founding possible.
36. Doppler-On-Wheels studies extreme weather like tornados.
37. NSF supports GPS technology, such as the National Center for
Geographic Information and Analysis.
38. Neuroscience is a major area for NSF.
39. The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) collects
environmental data via distributed sensor networks.
40. This Design Squad App illustrates NSF’s support of informal education
and advanced touch-screen technology.
41. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, located beneath the
US South Pole Station, studies the nature and properties of these particles.
42. NSF supports potentially transformative technologies like Virtual Reality.
43. Robobees are innovative autonomously-flying microrobots that
have potential impacts in many applications.
44. Quantum phenomena can yield novel technologies in computing
and communications.
45. Breakthroughs in economics inspired new software that streamlines
organ matches like kidney exchanges.
46. The Very Large Array is a component of the National Radio
Astronomy Observatory.
47. NSF was key to the development of the MRI, now an essential health tool.
48. This block-sorting robot tests how autonomous systems discern
their environment.
49. NSF support led to the study and systematization of ASL.
50. 3D printing has impacted manufacturing, design and the arts.
51. NSF supports research into bee colony decline and efforts to
save the bees.
52. The High-Performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for
Environmental Research is a modified jet that studies
the atmosphere.
53. Large-scale computing simulates complex systems like hurricanes.
54. Large-scale changes to seawater chemistry can damage coral reefs
and more.
55. Biometric identification—whether fingerprints, iris scans, or DNA—
is essential to security and forensics.
56. The social sciences, like linguistics, improve our understandings
of ourselves and our society.
57. In 2019, a global network of telescopes (Event Horizon Telescope)
with major NSF support captured the first ever image of a black hole.
58. With support for programs like The Magic School Bus, NSF supports
elementary and informal STEM education.
59. Robotics and automation, such that in this self-driving car,
promise to transform transport and more.
60. In 1991, NSF-funded researchers discovered the first of three
extra solar planets by using radio telescopes.
61. The bacterial enzyme, CRISPR, is revolutionizing biotech and health.
62. The 2008 Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is NSF’s latest
Antarctic research station.
Mural credit: Nicole R. Fuller