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Over the last two decades, scientists have discovered that the optical microscope can be used to detect, track and image objects much smaller than their
Trapping light with an optical version of a whispering gallery, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has filed a provisional patent application for a microflow measurement system, about the size of a
Like sandblasting at the nanometer scale, focused beams of ions ablate hard materials to form intricate three-dimensional patterns. The beams can create tiny
Tiny pores at a cell’s entryway act as miniature bouncers, letting in some electrically charged atoms—ions—but blocking others. Operating as exquisitely
Paving the way for testing experimental drugs in more realistic environments, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have
Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their collaborators have taken a new step forward in the quest to build quantum
Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed the first miniature laser in which the light is guided along the floor of
In a pioneering effort to control, measure and understand magnetism at the atomic level, researchers working at the National Institute of Standards and
DNA is the stuff of life, but it is also the stuff of nanotechnology. Because molecules of DNA with complementary chemical structures recognize and bind to one
You can’t hear most of them, but the world is running on different kinds of mechanical oscillations. For example, inside the average electronic wristwatch is a
In an arranged marriage of optics and mechanics, physicists have created microscopic structural beams that have a variety of powerful uses when light strikes
Using a state-of-the-art microscopy technique, experimenters at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their colleagues have witnessed a
Most people have never seen an accelerometer -- a device that measures change in velocity -- and wouldn’t know where to look. Yet accelerometers have become
Nanoparticles -- those with diameters less than one-thousandth the width of a human hair -- are increasingly prevalent in high technology, medicine, and
Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new device that measures the motion of super-tiny particles traversing
In science, sometimes the best discoveries come when you’re exploring something else entirely. That’s the case with recent findings from the National Institute
A recently developed CNST software package that designs difficult-to-draw nanoscale shapes, including spirals, S-bends, and tapered structures is now available
From the printing press to the jet engine, mechanical machines with moving parts have been a mainstay of technology for centuries. As U.S. industry develops
Converting a single photon from one color, or frequency, to another is an essential tool in quantum communication, which harnesses the subtle correlations
As the sizes of computer chips in electronic devices continue to shrink, traditional measurement tools (e.g., microscopes utilizing visible light) are no longer
Researchers working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a "piezo-optomechanical circuit" that converts signals among
By marrying state-of-the-art nanometer-scale gratings with a Space Age-era thin-film polymer, researchers working at the National Institute of Standards and
Researchers working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a novel way to noninvasively measure and map how and where