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Physical Measurement Laboratory

News and Updates

Displaying 626 - 650 of 1555
Dunamis Novem dance by Sam Mitchell.

Gaily Tread the [Quantum] Measure

Since quantum theory has been known to borrow from the arts—Murray Gell-Mann famously named "quarks" after a line from James Joyce—it's only fitting that...
Electron spin resonance illustration

The Incredible Shrinking ESR Machine

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have come up with a way to shrink a research instrument generally associated with large...
Sam Benz

Four PML Scientists Honored

In recent days, four scientists in the Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have been recognized...
Clock

Today, Pause for a Second

For the great majority of human history, the earth's rotation—the apparent motion of the sun and stars across the sky—kept time far more precisely than any...
vacuum fluctuations teaser image

Vacuum Fluctuations: Measuring the Unreal

In this universe, anything that can vibrate will vibrate, and no oscillator is ever truly at rest. Even when an object such as an atom or subatomic particle is...
Polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background

Reading the Secrets of Ancient Light

Much of what we know about the origin and early history of the universe comes from a phenomenon discovered by accident 50 years ago: The cosmic microwave...
dancer photo

What is Quantum Physics? Dancers Explain

Quantum physics drives much of the research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Explaining this research is a challenge, because...
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