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A researcher wearing safety gear kneels at the open door of a lab fridge, displaying a tray of samples.

Sinking Our Teeth Into Science: How Biomedical Engineering Can Help Make Us Healthier

August 21, 2024

Robert A. Gutierrez

From safer dental products to tracking the movement of tiny plastics through gut tissues, regenerative medicine can make us healthier.

Miles Walker poses smiling in front of the spiral staircase in the NIST library.

‌A Summer of Studying Cybersecurity — and Human Error’s Role in Attacks

August 6, 2024

Miles Walker

A NIST intern spent his summer researching cybersecurity — and the human errors that can jeopardize it.

Sun Park wears safety glasses as she adjusts wiring and equipment in the lab.

Unlocking Our World’s Earliest Secrets — One Tiny Electron at a Time

July 18, 2024

Sun Park

Why do we exist? It’s a big question — and one that some of NIST’s early universe detectives are getting closer to answering.

NIST researchers Elizabeth Strychalski and David Ross program the robotic arm that operates within the box-like structure of the NIST biofoundry.

The Promise of Synthetic Cells: Revolutionary New Drugs, Outer Space Explorers and Pushing Beyond the Limits of Evolution

July 8, 2024

Scientists are getting closer to creating a living cell from scratch. It could help treat diseases or even create life forms that can be better adapted to space.

A researcher wearing a lab coat uses tongs to place a silvery sphere into a large scientific device as another researcher looks on.

One of the World’s Roundest Objects Is Helping to Build a Better Mass Measurement

July 3, 2024

Megan King

Different countries' approaches can lead to different definitions of the kilogram. But NIST is working with our international partners to see how we can close those tiny gaps.

A spherical, spiky virus is approached on all sides by Y-shaped antibodies.

You Don’t Learn This in School: My Experience as a NIST Summer Intern

June 4, 2024

George Sellers

The most important thing I remember from being a NIST intern last summer is the power of persistence in research.

Thomas Forbes wears safety glasses as he looks at the screen attached to a piece of equipment in the lab.

Your Future Medications Could Be Personalized for You on a 3D Printer

May 28, 2024

Lawrence Goodman

Your future medications could be made on a 3D printer, and a NIST researcher is working to make sure that process is safe.

NIST biomedical engineer Laurie Locascio places a water sample on a highly sensitive, inexpensive "lab-on-a-chip"

One of NIST’s Most Prolific Inventors Is Also Our Director — and She’s Still an Inventor at Heart

May 16, 2024

Before she was the director of NIST, Laurie E. Locascio invented materials that make us healthier.

Four people sitting outside on a green tarp wear eclipse glasses as they peer up into the sky.

NIST Researchers Measure Greenhouse Gases During the Solar Eclipse

May 9, 2024

Alex Boss

Check out some of the things happening at NIST during the past few months through the lens of social media.

Stephen Eckel wears dark safety glasses as he peers into the complex CAVS apparatus in a darkened lab.

How Low Can Temperature Go? Lord Kelvin and the Science of Absolute Zero

May 7, 2024

Stephen Eckel

On Lord Kelvin’s 200th birthday today, we’re remembering the scientist who brought us the metric (SI) unit for temperature.

Photos of Marc Levitan and Long Phan are part of a collage of tornado images labeled: Tornado Resiliency Building Code Research

NIST Research Is Setting the Standard to Help Buildings Withstand Tornadoes

May 6, 2024

Brian Gutierrez

Two NIST researchers have been recognized for their work to create new standards for buildings that can better withstand tornadoes.

Brad Sutliff wears safety glasses as he stands in the lab in front of a computer monitor.

From Trash to Cash: How AI and Machine Learning Can Help Make Recycling Less Expensive for Local Governments

May 3, 2024

Bradley Sutliff

Can AI help us recycle better? A NIST researcher is working to make that happen.

NIST Physicist’s Once Obscure Work Is Now Helping Researchers Learn About the Origins of the Universe

April 17, 2024

Ron Cowen

A NIST researcher worked in obscurity for years — until his work was needed to help us understand the origins of our universe.

A researcher wearing safety glasses reaches into a box of circuitry and other equipment, which emits a green glow.

Demystifying Quantum: It’s Here, There and Everywhere

March 26, 2024

Tara Fortier

It’s time to celebrate World Quantum Day! But what is quantum, anyway? A NIST physicist answers your questions.

Antonio Possolo stands next to a museum display of a Kibble balance, a complex scientific device.

Listening to the Data: How a NIST Tool Helps Labs Worldwide Harmonize Measurements

March 21, 2024

Antonio Possolo

In a global economy, measurements need to be reliably comparable across the world. But how do we ensure that actually happens?

George Caceres wears safety glasses and a lab coat as he looks at a plastic test tube he is holding.

Measuring Microplastics: To Solve the Problem, We Have to Understand and Measure It

March 18, 2024

George Caceres

My friends sometimes jokingly ask me, “How many microplastics do you think I consumed this week?” Unfortunately, the answer is not zero.

Close-up shows shiny metal patches with areas of green corrosion and open holes.

Houston, We Have the Engine Remnants: How My Lab Pieced Together a Forgotten Part of an Apollo Rocket

March 5, 2024

Adam Creuziger

Like many people, I had dreams of flying into space as an astronaut when I was a child. That interest in aerospace and space exploration has continued throughout my life.

Ryan Falkenstein-Smith and Amy Mensch, both wearing lab coats and gloves, stand in the lab next to a black camera-like device on a table.

The Sound of Soot: How a Strange Noise Can Keep Us Safer From Fires

February 26, 2024

Amy Mensch, Ryan Falkenstein-Smith

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Where there’s fire, there is soot. And where there is soot, there is … noise.

Kathryn Miller sits reading a book at a small table in the NIST library.

From Bookmobiles to Big Data, How Library Scientists Make Information Accessible to All

February 21, 2024

Kathryn Miller

During Women’s History Month, a NIST librarian looks back at the librarian who brought us the bookmobile — back when it brought books by horse and buggy.

Measurement in the Movies

February 20, 2024

Ben P. Stein

The nominees are in … for the best use of measurement in a movie.

A spiral-bound calendar page is blurred at the edges.

Leap Day Is Here: It Doesn’t Have to Be Your Standard Weekday

February 16, 2024

Andrew Novick

We get an extra day this year, but why do we need a leap day every four years on Feb. 29? It all comes down to standards.

Fisheye view of grocery store shelves packed with coffee products.

Weighing Your Purchases: How New Laws May Help You Become a Savvier Online Shopper

February 6, 2024

John McGuire

When you buy something by weight or volume, you want to get what you pay for. And we’re helping to make sure that happens — whether you shop online or in a store.

Samuel Márquez Gonzalez leans forward to look through a microscope in the lab.

From Pokémon to Physics: My Journey of Perseverance Into Research

January 23, 2024

Samuel Márquez González

A childhood love of video games led Samuel Márquez Gonzalez to a career in science and a NIST internship program for early career researchers.

Historical photo shows Henry Moseley sitting at a desk reading a thick book, with other open books on the desk.

Henry Moseley: A Patriotic Scientist Who Changed the Periodic Table — and Then Went Off to War

January 18, 2024

Miral Dizdaroglu

At a young age, physicist Henry Moseley changed the periodic table of the elements — before dying in a bloody World War I battle.

A small orange is packaged in a plastic container with a lid.

A Polymer Scientist Wrestles — Literally and Figuratively — With the Frustrations of Plastic Packaging

January 4, 2024

Kate Beers

If you’ve resolved to be a more eco-conscious consumer this year, learn about how NIST’s circular economy lead thinks about plastic packaging in our everyday lives.

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