NIST has issued a new ruler, and even for an organization that routinely deals in superlatives, it sets some records. Designed to be the most accurate commercially available 'meter stick' for the nano world, the new measuring tool boasts uncertainties below a femtometer. That's 0.000 000 000 000 001 meter, or roughly the size of a neutron.
Diamonds, it has long been said, are a girl's best friend. But a research team including a physicist from NIST has recently found that the gems might turn out to be a patient's best friend as well.
Inventing a useful new tool for creating chemical reactions between single molecules, scientists at NIST have employed microfluidics to make microdroplets that each contain single molecules of interest. By combining this new microfluidic with techniques to merge multiple droplets, the research may ultimately lead to new information on the structure and function of important organic materials such as proteins, enzymes, and DNA.
A chemist at NIST has demonstrated a relatively simple, inexpensive method for detecting and measuring elusive hazards such as concealed explosives and toxins, invisible spoilage in food or pesticides distributed in soil by wind and rain.
Physicists at NIST are studying their own version of a sodium substitute - sodium-like tungsten ions that could be useful in monitoring the ultra-hot plasma inside fusion energy devices.
Researchers at NIST have proposed a mathematical tweak that improves the accuracy of a temperature measurement technique used to monitor critical temperatures in microfludic devices used for tasks such as medical diagnostics and DNA forensics.
NIST researchers have developed a new reference material to use in calibrating and testing trace-explosives detectors like those used at airports.
NIST has published a new request for 'white papers' that outline or help define potential new funding competitions under the agency's Technology Innovation Program (TIP).
Two publications from NIST describe new capabilities for authentication systems using smart cards or other personal security devices.
The Baldrige National Quality Program recently published anonymous scoring data on 1,033 applicants for the Baldrige National Quality Award during the years 1990-2006. The data are being publicly released in response to many requests and to facilitate further analysis by interested researchers.
NIST has issued three new certified reference materials for soil. Intended for use as controls in testing laboratories, the new Standard Reference Materials will aid in determining soil quality, detecting soil contamination, and monitoring cleanup efforts from accidental spills or atmospheric deposition.
NIST and the National Security Agency (NSA) are cosponsoring the Biometric Consortium Conference 2009 on Sept. 22-24 at the Tampa (Fla.) Convention Center.
On Oct. 6, 2009, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) will sponsor a technology transfer and commercialization showcase for bio-imaging technologies developed by NIST and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
A new publication that recommends best practices for the next generation of portable biometric acquisition devices--Mobile ID--has been published by NIST.
A research team from NIST and the University of Maryland has found a simple method of sandwiching organic molecules between silicon and metal, two materials fundamental to electronic components. By doing so, the team may have overcome one of the principal obstacles in creating switches made from individual molecules.
Chemists at NIST have issued a new certified reference material--a standardized sample backed by NIST--for determining the concentrations of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients in infant and adult nutritional formula and similar products.
Recent tests by researchers at NIST will provide much needed, independent data on how electromagnetic radiation penetrates aircraft, helping to ensure continued air travel safety.
In what may prove to be a major development for scientists in fields ranging from forensics to quantum communications, researchers at NIST have developed a new, highly sensitive, low-cost technique for measuring light in the near-infrared range.
The century-old challenge of storing and transporting acetylene safely may have been solved in principle by a team of scientists working at NIST.
NIST and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) have published a report on the inaugural meeting of the Nuclear Energy Standards Coordination Collaborative (NESCC), a new ANSI Standards Panel, co-chaired by NIST and ANSI, to address the current and future standards needs of the nuclear energy industry.
NIST physicists have improved an experimental atomic clock based on ytterbium atoms, which now about four times more accurate than it was several years ago, giving it a precision comparable to that of the NIST-F1 cesium fountain clock.
Researchers at NIST have developed a new calibration technique that will improve the reliability and stability of one of NIST's most versatile technologies, the microhotplate.
As a result of a major inter-laboratory study co-managed by NIST and the National Cancer Institute, the standards body ASTM International has been able to update its guidelines for a commonly used technique for measuring the size of nanoparticles in solutions.
Raising prospects for building a practical quantum computer, physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated sustained, reliable information processing operations on electrically charged atoms (ions). The new work, described in the Aug. 6, 2009, issue of Science Express, overcomes significant hurdles in scaling up ion-trapping technology from small demonstrations to larger quantum processors.
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have created an innovative device called the "microfluidic palette" to produce multiple, steady-state chemical gradients"”gradual changes in concentration across an area"”in a miniature chamber about the diameter of a pinhead.
A new class of economically viable solar power cells"”cheap, flexible and easy to make"”has come a step closer to reality as a result of recent work at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where scientists have deepened their understanding of the complex organic films at the heart of the devices.
A guide for designing buildings using steel moment frames to resist earthquakes has been published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as part of its support for the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP).
Researchers involved in advancing artificial intelligence in robots and other systems will gather Sept. 21-23, 2009, at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Md., to attend the ninth annual Performance Metrics for Intelligent Systems (PerMIS'09) workshop.
Physicists at NIST have overcome a hurdle in quantum computer development, having devised* a viable way to manipulate a single "bit" in a quantum processor without disturbing the information stored in its neighbors. The approach, which makes novel use of polarized light to create "effective" magnetic fields, could bring the long-sought computers a step closer to reality.
Researchers from NIST, Oregon Health and Science University and the New York University School of Medicine have demonstrated that deleting two genes in mice responsible for repairing DNA strands damaged by oxidation leads to several types of tumors, providing additional evidence that such stress contributes to the development of cancer. The work may lead to the development of new measurement methods and reference materials for accurate and reproducible assessments of DNA damage and repair.
A novel ion trap demonstrated at NIST could usher in a new generation of applications, because the device holds promise as a stylus for sensing very small forces or for an interface for efficient transfer of individual light particles for quantum communications.
A tiny grid pattern has led materials scientists at NIST and the Institute of Solid State Physics in Russia to an unexpected finding - the surprisingly strong and long-range effects of certain electromagnetic nanostructures used in data storage.
NIST physicists have demonstrated entanglement"”a phenomenon peculiar to the atomic-scale quantum world"”in a mechanical system similar to those in the macroscopic world. The work extends the boundaries of the arena where quantum behavior can be observed and shows how laboratory technology might be used to build a functional quantum computer.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has delivered to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) a draft revision to the 2005 federal Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) Version 1.0, specifying how electronic voting machines are built and tested.
Information exchange processes developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will be at the center of the effort to design and build the next generation of modern, highly efficient nuclear power plants.
Electronic memory chips may soon gain the ability to bend and twist as a result of work by engineers at NIST, who have found a way to build a flexible memory component out of inexpensive, readily available materials.
By combining the best of two different distance measurement approaches with a super-accurate technology called an optical frequency comb, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have built a laser ranging system that can pinpoint multiple objects with nanometer precision over distances up to 100 kilometers.
NIST establishing a testing program to assure that the U.S. government purchases new computers and networking products that work properly on the next-generation Internet traffic system"”known as IPv6"”while meeting standards for federal government use.
Two speed measuring devices used by the law enforcement community"”the down-the-road (DTR) radar with which officers enforce automobile speed limits and the ballistic chronograph which tracks the velocity of bullets during testing of protective equipment"”soon should be more useful tools thanks to recent research conducted at NIST.
A working definition for cloud computing"”a new computer technique with potential for achieving significant cost savings and information technology agility"”has been released by a team of computer security experts at NIST.
In its first decade of work, a research effort at NIST to develop novel and improved "combinatorial" techniques for polymer research"”an effort that became the NIST Combinatorial Methods Center (NCMC)"”realized economic benefits of at least $8.55 for every dollar invested by NIST and its industry partners, according to a new economic analysis.
Chip manufacturers beware: There's a new flaw in our understanding of transistor noise, a phenomenon affecting the electronic on-off switch within computer circuits. According to NIST engineers who discovered the problem, it will soon impede the creation of more efficient, lower-powered devices like cell phones and pacemakers unless we solve it.
Commerce Secretary Locke and Energy Secretary Chu have announced the first set of NIST-recognized standards needed for interoperability and security of a planned nationwide "smart" electric power grid"”a system that would allow electricity users to connect directly with power suppliers via real-time, two-way communication technologies.
Daniel Madrzykowski of NIST was named George D. Post Instructor of the Year for 2009 by the International Society of Fire Service Instructors and Fire Engineering magazine.
NIST has issued for public comment a draft publication describing the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP), a new method to automate the task of verifying computer security settings.
Physicist James C. Bergquist, a Fellow at NIST whose research helped usher in the age of optical atomic clocks, has been elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Jun Ye, a NIST Fellow working at JILA, has received the 2009 European Frequency and Time Award, and Leo Hollberg, a physicist and group leader who recently retired from NIST Boulder, will receive the 2009 William F. Meggers Award from the Optical Society of America.
The U.S. military can now calibrate high-power laser systems, such as those intended to defuse unexploded mines, more quickly and easily thanks to a novel nanotube-coated power measurement device developed at NIST.
By modifying a commonly used commercial infrared spectrometer to allow operation at long-wave terahertz frequencies, researchers at NIST discovered an efficient new approach to measure key structural properties of nanoscale metal-oxide films used in high-speed integrated circuits.
NIST last week issued its first reference materials to support the new and growing field of tissue engineering for medicine.
RSS
Medicine keyboard_arrow_right
Sciencekeyboard_arrow_right
Life keyboard_arrow_right
Business keyboard_arrow_right
Journal News keyboard_arrow_right
By Location keyboard_arrow_right
Meetings, Grants, and Events keyboard_arrow_right