News and Updates

Displaying 1 - 25 of 668

Now Live: Living Cells Can Be Seen With Infrared Light

September 9, 2024

NIST researchers use new method to measure biomolecules in live cells.

Spotlight: SURF Student Theresa Thomas Helps With Making a Database on the Circular Economy More Accessible

August 16, 2024

Accessibility comes in many forms, such as providing alt text or descriptive text of an image on a website, or generally making information more accessible to a

NIST Researchers to Test New Approach for Detecting Cannabis in Breath

August 15, 2024

The new approach involves two breath tests separated by a specified time interval.

SURF student Zainab Altamimi, who wears a hijab, stands in a lab with safety glasses and gloves on as she holds a micropipette in one hand and a vial in the other.

Spotlight: SURF Student Zainab Altamimi Spends Her Summer Researching the Capsules and Tablets in 3D Drug Printing

August 6, 2024

From antibiotics to insulin, there have been shortages of many lifesaving drugs in recent years, requiring doctors and patients to adapt treatment plans. But

NIST’s New Hemp Reference Material Will Help Ensure Accurate Cannabis Measurements

July 8, 2024

This will help forensic labs correctly determine whether a seized material is hemp, which is legal in all 50 states, or marijuana, which is a controlled

An RM for Measuring Cannabinoids and Toxic Elements in Hemp

July 8, 2024

The Hemp Plant reference material (RM 8210) provides values for cannabinoids and toxic elements in a dried ground hemp plant material to help cannabis and

SIM Approval of the NIST Office of Reference Materials Quality Management System

July 3, 2024

The NIST Office of Reference Materials implements a quality management system (QMS) based on Standard ISO 9001:2015, Guide 31:2015 and relevant requirements of

Illustration shows a breathalyzer device with a paper report and microscope slides.

NIST Partners With the Gates Foundation to Develop Breathalyzers for Malaria and Tuberculosis

June 26, 2024

NIST will create the standards and tools needed to ensure that the breathalyzers work.

Grid of six B&W images of asbestos fibers taken by scanning electron microscopy

NIST Researchers Identify a Cheaper, More Convenient Method to Detect Asbestos

June 25, 2024

Researchers have verified that scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is a highly accurate way to test air samples for the presence of asbestos.

Julie Rieland, a researcher, looks at data on her computer screen in her lab.

Spotlight: NIST Researcher Julie Rieland Works Toward Recycling and Reusing Synthetic Plastics Used in Agriculture

June 18, 2024

Julie is surveying farmers to see what types of plastics they use on their farms and what the barriers to recycling might be.

Research Finds Dolphins With Elevated Mercury Levels in Florida and Georgia

June 12, 2024

Scientists said their study could inform future research on mercury in humans living in the affected areas.

A New Way of Designing Auxetic Materials

May 30, 2024

Auxetics defy common sense, widening when they’re stretched and narrowing when they’re compressed.

Sierra Miller sits at a desk facing a computer screen.

Spotlight: For Bioinformaticist Sierra Miller, the Scientific Breakthrough Is Hidden in the Data

May 13, 2024

Sometimes, the scientific breakthrough isn’t an “aha” moment in a lab; it’s hidden in the data produced by the experiment.

Square with rounded edges. Fill of square looks like American flag. Coming off the sides of the square are lines with unfilled circles at end. Words underneath: CHIPS for AMERICA

JARVIS-Leaderboard: A Large Scale Benchmark of Materials Design Methods

May 7, 2024

CHIPS Metrology Program The CHIPS Metrology Program leverages NIST’s proven measurement science expertise to conduct research on measurements that are accurate

Kathryn Beers Named Director of NIST’s Material Measurement Laboratory

May 6, 2024

Beers managed NIST’s Circular Economy Program, which supports the nation’s transition to an economy in which materials retain their value through repeated

Diagram shows a vertical column with blue arrows (air flow) pointing down and moving through a central area marked with small circles (carbon molecules).

NIST Develops New Testing System for Carbon Capture in Fight Against Global Warming

April 25, 2024

The agency plans to release an early-stage reference material that companies can use to test equipment for direct air capture.

A Standard for Quantifying Yohimbe in Dietary Supplements

April 17, 2024

SRM 3383 Yohimbe-Containing Solid Oral Dosage Form is part of a continuing collaboration with NIH-Office of Dietary Supplements to develop dietary supplement

An SRM for Measuring Arsenic in Shellfish

April 16, 2024

NIST has developed many environmentally relevant Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) over the years, including whale blubber, fish and mussel tissues, human

An elongated test instrument with steel cylinders that rapidly heats and applies force to a material.

Spotlight: Test Instrument Puts Materials Under Forces at High Speeds to Mimic Many Instantaneous Situations in the Real World

March 16, 2024

This elongated test instrument, the first of its kind in the world, puts materials under two extreme conditions in fractions of seconds.

NIST Awards Nearly $3 Million for Educational Programs Focused on Circular Economy to Reduce Plastic Waste

March 1, 2024

Six universities will create programs to help develop solutions to problems created by the production and consumption of plastics.

NIST, Nonprofit Research Consortium to Develop Safety Tools for Synthetic Biology to Defend Against Potential Misuse of AI

February 16, 2024

The cooperative agreement is the next step in NIST’s fulfillment of the White House Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence.

Material Measurement Laboratory