News and Updates

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Spotlight: Laser Light Sheet Imaging Shows the Dangers of Airborne Exposure to Allergens

September 18, 2026

For some individuals with peanut allergies, just inhaling peanut dust can be deadly. But did you know how easy it is for food particles to become airborne? This...

Image of a researcher wearing gloves holding a bottle of tissue material over a cart with dense fog billowing out.

Spotlight: Researchers Use Tissue Bank to Study Marine Mammal Health

September 2, 2026

The National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank is a collection of more than 80,000 different marine mammal tissue samples, including seals, whales, sea otters and even...

Spotlight: Changing a Material’s Magnetic Properties

August 27, 2026

NIST develops measurement methods for magnetic materials and certifies magnetic standard reference materials.

Researcher working in lab with safety glasses and gloves

Spotlight: Researchers Develop Quality Control Tool for Bird Flu

August 14, 2026

NIST researchers have developed a reference material for H5N1 avian influenza or bird flu. Manufacturers in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries can use...

Scientific device has a circular opening; a circular metal "wafer" sits outside it on a platform.

Spotlight: Using AI Discovery Engine for Materials Exploration

August 3, 2026

NIST researcher Gilad Kusne collaborated with the University of Maryland researchers to use machine learning to investigate different materials based on their...

A New Standard for Measuring Harmful Elements in Tobacco

July 31, 2026

SRM 3223 Inorganic Constituents in Cigarette Tobacco Filler was created to help manufacturers and importers meet the federal requirement for reporting harmful...

Bottle of sesame oil on a wooden table. Sesame seeds are in a bowl and spoon next to the bottle and also sprinkled on the table.

NIST Sesame Reference Material Initiative – Call to Collaborate

July 29, 2026

Measurement Gap: The absence of characterized reference material to support the detection of sesame allergen and the validation of testing methods. NIST...

Five fabric swatches in clear plastic bags labeled 10279 are arrayed around a box labeled 99% Reflective Calibration Target.

New Fabric Test Material Could Help Strengthen Domestic Supply Chain for Textiles and Clothing

July 9, 2026

Researchers estimate that 56% of textiles can be recycled or recovered, but most don’t make it back into the domestic supply chain.

Four identical frosted-over jars are labeled 1947a, Great Lakes Fish Tissue.

Spotlight: How NIST Helps Make Sure the Fish You Catch Are Safe to Eat

July 8, 2026

To support contaminant measurements in fish, NIST developed a standard reference material.

NIST Reference Material Offers Reliable Benchmark for H5N1 Outbreak Detection

June 30, 2026

To support national disease surveillance, NIST provides tools that verify the accuracy of diagnostic tests for both manufacturers and labs. Reference Material...

An RM for Assessing the Working Curve for Resin 3D Printing

June 30, 2026

NIST supports the nation's advanced manufacturing sector with tools that assure users and manufacturers of 3D‑printed products that their fabrication methods...

Two New Reference Materials Assist Supplement Manufacturers and Testing Labs with Measurements of Marker Constituents in Eleuthero

June 30, 2026

Eleuthero is a plant whose stem and roots have been used in traditional medicine across Asia for centuries. It is a popular herbal supplement packed with...

Custom trays hold different kinds of vials for laboratory work.

NIST Expands Its Library of ‘Chemical Fingerprints’ to Identify Unknown Substances

June 9, 2026

Researchers and manufacturers rely on the library to identify unknown compounds in food, drugs, cosmetics, the environment, body fluids, forensic evidence and...

NIST Researchers Discover a New Way to Whisk Alloys Together With Lasers

June 4, 2026

NIST also improved how X-rays are used to study the atomic structure of metals in real time during 3D printing, allowing researchers to observe how materials...

glass jar container with a white cap and white label that reads "Standard Reference Material 1947a great lakes fish tissue"

SRM Story: SRM 1947a Great Lakes Fish Tissue

April 28, 2026

The American Sportfishing Association indicates that US recreational and sport fishing is a $230.5 billion industry that supports 1.1 million jobs nationwide...

NIST Releases NIR-SORT 2.0: Enhancing Model Validation for Textile Feedstock Identification

March 19, 2026

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released NIR-SORT 2.0, a major technical expansion of its spectroscopic fabric characterization...

NIST Accelerates Circular Economy Standards with New Resource Registry

March 19, 2026

For companies selling recycled materials, knowing the science isn’t enough. Understanding the standards is just as critical. Take a recycler working with PVC...

Two white cardboard boxes with white labels that contain blue text that reads "Organic contaminants in smokers' urine" One box displays Standard reference material 3672a and other 3673a

SRM Story: SRMs 3672a and 3673a Organic Contaminants in Smokers’ and Nonsmokers’ Urine

February 25, 2026

According to the Office of the US Surgeon General, approximately one in five deaths annually is related to smoking. Additionally, the economic impact of smoking...

NIST Releases New Forensic Genetic Reference Material to Help Crime Laboratories Analyze Challenging Cases

February 17, 2026

The reference material is the first to include mixtures of high-quality and degraded DNA from different individuals.  

Space: The Final Frontier for Standards

February 9, 2026

Seven NIST reference materials, including house dust and freeze-dried human liver tissue, have been flown to the International Space Station.

Nanoscale Mechanical Characterization for Hybrid-Bonding-Ready Structures in Advanced Packaging

January 29, 2026

Since the first computers were developed, their performance has mainly depended on increasing the density of transistors on monolithic chips. However, as we...

MMSD Staff Release 2025 Version of SRD31, Phase Equilibria Diagrams (PED)

November 25, 2025

Phase Equilibria Diagrams (PED) Version 6.0 of SRD31 is now commercially available with a new custom windowing system that improves and streamlines use of the...

Sparks shoot off as a laser cutting head slices a metal pipe into thin circles.

Building a Sustainable Metals Infrastructure: NIST Report Highlights Key Strategies

November 20, 2025

Making metals processing more sustainable and resilient will support U.S industrial innovation and competitiveness.

A semiconductor rendering at center with seven boxes, each illustrating: chemical kinetics & degree of cure; cure kinetics mapping; chemorheology & viscoelasticity; cure & hygrothermal induced warpage; cure & hygrothermal induced stress; extent of reaction & composition; and viscoelasticity mapping.

The “Soft Side” of Chips: NIST Advances Polymer Science for Semiconductor Packaging

September 10, 2025

After powering five decades of innovation, Moore’s Law is faltering. Here’s how the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is helping the...

A microscopic image of NISTCHO cells that are stained blue and green on a black background..

NIST’s ‘Living Reference Material’ Could Accelerate R&D of Lifesaving Biological Drugs

September 8, 2025

The NIST reference material, called NISTCHO, will help the biopharmaceutical industry develop new drugs more quickly and ensure that they are safe and effective...

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