NIST News

Dr. William D. Phillips, the first researcher from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to become a Nobel Laureate, has been awarded the 2006 Career Achievement Medal in the … more

Airborne contaminants in homes can range from allergic agents such as mold to potentially lethal threats such as carbon monoxide. Engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology … more

Working under severe time pressure, government laboratories can analyze radioactive samples fairly quickly—in a matter of hours—but with variable accuracy, and sometimes relaxed … more

Firefighters sometimes find themselves fighting blazes in temperatures as high as 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Firefighter gear and self-contained breathing apparatus can allow firefighters to … more

NIST research assistants demonstrate two functions of the prototype robotic HLPR chair (left) facilitating leg exercise and (right) lifting the patient to reach high shelves. View a … more

Starting Oct. 16, teams of business, education and health care experts will visit 13 organizations—one service company, three small businesses, three education organizations and six … more

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in cooperation with the Standardization Administration of China (SAC), have launched … more

On Sept. 26, 2006, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released three draft information technology security publications for public comment: Special Publication (SP) 800-54, … more

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in cooperation with the External RNA Controls Consortium (ERCC), has awarded a contract to Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Inc. (CBI, … more

TV shows such as "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" have popularized the role of forensic science in solving crimes. Now, computer security experts at the National Institute of Standards … more

Experts in manufacturing processes, measurement science and tools, and computational methods will meet Oct. 17-19, 2006, in Gaithersburg, Md., to set research goals and chart other next steps … more

A new design for a microwave oscillator that is smaller, simpler, and produces clearer signals at a single frequency than comparable devices has been invented at the National Institute of Standards … more

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued three new reference materials to support researchers studying the properties of commercially important … more

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Today, the University of Maryland (UM), the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the National Security Agency … more

(9/8/2006, ARCHIVE, incorporated into 9/19/2011 update) What is NIST? The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the Commerce Department’s Technology … more

When the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released the final report in October 2005 from its technical investigation of the fires and collapses of the World Trade Center (WTC) … more

Americans are living longer than ever. As the senior population grows over the coming years, increasing the quality of healthcare while reducing costs will become even more of a priority than it is … more

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has co-organized with U.S. industry a workshop to address the increasing pressure on manufacturers from emerging chemical controls and … more

Before ditching or donating that used computer, CD or other data-storage media, sensitive or personal information should be properly "sanitized," according to a new guide from the … more

The 1995 bombing that triggered the collapse of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Okla., first raised concerns in the United States about the safety of public buildings from … more

A gold nanobead, trapped with 205 milliwatts of infrared laser light, heats up to about 75 degrees C or 167 degrees F (shown in dark red) and the temperature in the surrounding area … more

This simulation shows how two nano-oscillators, spaced 500 nanometers apart, synchronize their microwave signals by overlapping and merging their "spin waves," magnetic emissions … more

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate, is sponsoring a workshop and a … more

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is& looking for comments on new guidelines aimed at helping end-users, in& particular telecommuting federal employees, improve the … more

Chemical engineers and others designing "green" industrial processes using new ionic liquid solvents now have an important new resource, an on-line database of physical properties … more

Ribbon rendering of the structure of AC-IV in Yersina pestis as determined at NIST. The enzyme is a dimer (two identical subunits around a vertical axis), and each of the two subunits … more

The White House has announced that two researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are among the 56 recipients of the 2005 Presidential Early Career Awards for … more

Increasingly, medical and pharmaceutical researchers are looking to biomedical imaging as a tool to track disease progress, speed drug discovery and improve patient outcomes. The goal is to … more

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is requesting comments on a draft revision of Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information Systems (NIST Special Publication … more

Researchers from the Pacific Northwest Research Institute (PNRI) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have uncovered a pattern of DNA damage in connective tissues in the … more

Novel 3-D microbeam experiment enables direct proof of the Mughrabi model of metal stress. Submicron X-ray beam (broad arrow) penetrates a deformed copper single crystal and is diffracted … more

Prodded by optical tweezers, two "hydrosomes" move together and fuse to mix their contents, in an experiment using water droplets as minuscule boxes for manipulating small numbers of … more

NIST researchers have mapped the relationship between stirring force and nanotube arrangement, an advance key to the processing of new nanocomposite materials. Images show the evolution … more

& Etched nanostructured rings around an LED can make it more than seven times brighter. The novel technique developed at NIST may have applications in areas such as in biomedical imaging … more

NIST physicist Jim Bergquist with the world's most accurate clock. The silver cylinder in the foreground is a magnetically shielded cryogenic vacuum system, which holds the heart of … more

On July 19, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Director Bill Jeffrey testified before the House Committee on Science and the Committee on House Administration on "Voting … more

Once a tool primarily used by law enforcement to help identify criminals, biometric technologies increasingly are being used by government and the private sector to authenticate a person's … more

After 10 years of research, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has unveiled the world's first precision instrument for directly measuring alternating current (AC) … more

BOULDER, COLO.—An experimental atomic clock based on a single mercury atom is now at least five times more precise than the national standard clock based on a "fountain" of cesium atoms, … more

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Maryland (UM) have joined in a $1.5 million cooperative program that will further NIST's efforts to develop … more

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a new reference material to aid quality control in the steel coatings industry. The new Standard Reference Material (SRM) … more

GAITHERSBURG, Md.—When it comes to superconductivity, magnetic excitations may top good vibrations. Writing in the July 6, 2006, issue of Nature,* scientists working at the Commerce … more

X-ray topographs of three different strata of a strained-silicon wafer show close correspondence in defects from the base silicon layer (top) through the final strained-silicon layer … more

GAITHERSBURG, Md.—The Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Maryland have joined in a $1.5 million cooperative … more

& & & & & & & & & & & Click here for hi-res version. A worker in a protective cab on a NIST-developed revolutionary robotic platform strips … more

When it comes to superconductivity, magnetic excitations may top good vibrations. Scientists working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) … more