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Physical Measurement Laboratory

News and Updates

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New Standard Aims to Ensure Accurate Fares in Both Ride-Hailing Technology and Traditional Taxi Services

February 15, 2018

To calculate a fare, ride-hailing apps rely on mobile devices for determining the vehicle’s movements and travel time, and to access the company’s proprietary

Graphic explaining the CMC method for comparing ballistic surfaces

How Good a Match is It? Putting Statistics into Forensic Firearms Identification

February 8, 2018

On February 14, 1929, gunmen working for Al Capone disguised themselves as police officers, entered the warehouse of a competing gang, and shot seven of their

Thanks, Bob: Expanding the Repertoire of NIST’s World-Class Coordinate Measuring Machines

January 30, 2018

The National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST) is home to one of the most sensitive machines in the world for measuring objects’ dimensions

NIST’s Superconducting Synapse May Be Missing Piece for ‘Artificial Brains’

January 26, 2018

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have built a superconducting switch that “learns” like a biological system and could

CNST Releases Fall Winter 2017 Edition of the CNST News

January 18, 2018

The NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) is pleased to announce the release of the Fall/Winter 2017 edition of the CNST News. This quarterly

Illustration of flat memristor device resting on titanium dioxide surface, with yellow electron beam impinging on memristor and ejecting electrons (balls of different colors).

Thanks for the Memory: NIST Takes a Deep Look at Memristors

January 18, 2018

In the race to build a computer that mimics the massive computational power of the human brain, researchers are increasingly turning to memristors, which can

A Stopwatch for Nanofluids: NIST Files Provisional Patent Application for Measuring Nanoliter Flow Rates

January 17, 2018

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has filed a provisional patent application for a microflow measurement system, about the size of a

Laboratory Management Web Application Goes Nationwide

January 8, 2018

Making reservations, accessing tools, and maintaining equipment at the CNST’s NanoFab got a lot easier five years ago when the CNST developed a customized

Man in striped shirt wearing laser safety glasses working with laser table in laboratory.

‘Quantum Radio’ May Aid Communications and Mapping Indoors, Underground and Underwater

January 2, 2018

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated that quantum physics might enable communications and mapping in

sphere-shaped particles of different sizes on a nanometer-scale staircase with 7 steps

Atomic Blasting Creates New Devices to Measure Nanoparticles

December 14, 2017

Like sandblasting at the nanometer scale, focused beams of ions ablate hard materials to form intricate three-dimensional patterns. The beams can create tiny

Illustration showing lines of electrical force around an opening to a cell.

Scientists Channel Graphene to Understand Filtration and Ion Transport into Cells

December 8, 2017

Tiny pores at a cell’s entryway act as miniature bouncers, letting in some electrically charged atoms—ions—but blocking others. Operating as exquisitely

NIST’s NeXT Trick Will Fill Your Eyes With That Double Vision

November 30, 2017

Superman’s X-ray vision has nothing on Jake LaManna’s. For the past couple of years, LaManna, an engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology

Clear spheres are shown over top of pink concentric rings

Quantum Simulators Wield Control Over More Than 50 Qubits

November 29, 2017

COLLEGE PARK, Md.—Two independent teams of scientists, including one from the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI, University of Maryland/NIST), have used more than 50

NIST Finds Many Protective Glasses Do Not Meet Specs for Shielding Light from Ultrafast Lasers

November 28, 2017

High-power, ultrafast pulsed lasers increasingly supply light for biomedical applications and imaging, materials processing, industrial micromachining and more

Two rectangular boxes with oblong shapes in the center of each in red, green and fuscia

Microwave-Based Test Method Can Help Keep 3-D Chip Designers’ Eyes Open

November 28, 2017

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have invented a new approach to testing multilayered, three-dimensional computer chips

How Disposable Diapers Can Improve Measurements of Tumor Growth

November 20, 2017

Catching cancer early can make all the difference for successful treatment. A common screening practice measures tumor growth with X-ray computed tomography (CT

Man with gray hair standing beside computer with digital clock display

NIST’s Next-Generation Atomic Clocks May Support Official Timekeeping

November 16, 2017

For more than a decade, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been unveiling experimental next-generation atomic clocks. These clocks

NIST Scientists Discover How to Switch Liver Cancer Cell Growth from 2-D to 3-D Structures

November 15, 2017

Paving the way for testing experimental drugs in more realistic environments, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have

Lights, Camera, Calibrate! Improving Space Cameras with a Better Model for Ultra-Bright Lamps

November 14, 2017

Studio photographers may be familiar with the 1,000-watt quartz halogen lamps known as “FELs.” Scientists use them too—specially calibrated ones, at least—to

Image showing several lines of a circuit, with an inset showing a device that has both a quantum dot and a network of waveguides

Hybrid Circuit Combines Single-Photon Generator and Efficient Waveguides on One Chip

November 7, 2017

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

New Insights on ‘Captured’ Electrons Could Improve Flash Memory

November 7, 2017

An entirely new model of the way electrons are briefly trapped and released in tiny electronic devices suggests that a long-accepted, industry-wide view is just

Color me Purple, or Red, or Green, or …

November 7, 2017

Imagine a miniature device that suffuses each room in your house with a different hue of the rainbow—purple for the living room, perhaps, blue for the bedroom

Need Entangled Atoms? Get 'Em FAST! With NIST’s New Patent-Pending Method

November 7, 2017

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have come up with a way to link a group of atoms’ quantum mechanical properties among

It’s All About the Mix

October 24, 2017

A marriage between 3-D printer plastic and a versatile material for detecting and storing gases could lead to inexpensive sensors and fuel cell batteries alike

Person holding wallet card showing the values of fundamental constants being used for revising the International System of Units, the modern metric system.

Bringing the World Closer to Revised Measurement System, Scientists Update Four Key Fundamental Constants

October 23, 2017

Paving the way for transforming the world’s measurement system, an international task force has determined updated values for four fundamental constants of

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