This video from the National Science Foundation (NSF) shows how researchers at Princeton University have developed an innovative technique to transfer microscopic materials by blasting them from one place to another with a laser. The tiny patterns help to advance technology as they make help pack more into electronic screens.

NSF is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 “to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense.”

With an annual budget of about $6.9 billion (FY 2010), NSF is the funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing.