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Material Measurement Laboratory

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CHO and Tell

February 22, 2018

Although few people realize it, modern medicine relies heavily on the ovarian cells of Chinese hamsters, not as a direct cure, but rather as a way to engineer...

Public-Private Partnership to Develop Standards for Regenerative Medicine

February 13, 2018

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Standards Coordinating Body for Gene, Cell and Regenerative Medicines and Cell-based Drug...

A Map App to Track Stem Cells

February 13, 2018

Researchers who work with stem cells have ambitious goals. Some want to cure cancer or treat heart disease. Others want to grow the tissues and organs that...

The image shows two regions with opposing chiral antiferromagnetic domains (gray/black) in the chiral antiferromagnet Mn3Sn.

Study Identifies Metallic Antiferromagnet with Potential for Memory Devices

January 29, 2018

Antiferromagnets have generated significant interest for future computing technologies due to their fast dynamics, their ability to generate and detect spin...

Detecting Chemical Agents with Confidence

January 17, 2018

The Joint Chemical Agent Detector (JCAD) has become an important defense tool on battlefields and in war-torn cities over the last few years. About the size and...

Sticking Together

January 16, 2018

NIST helps to ensure the strength of buildings, bridges, roadways, and other critical structures all over the world. The Material Measurement Lab at NIST makes...

Photo of police officer from behind wearing body armor labeled Police

A New Way to Test Body Armor

October 16, 2017

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new way to investigate the high-performance fibers used in modern body...

How the Cone Snail’s Deadly Venom Can Help Us Build Better Medicines

October 10, 2017

Cone snails have inspired humans for centuries. Coastal communities have often traded their beautiful shells like money and put them in jewelry. Many artists...

Small Wonder

September 25, 2017

NIST helps semiconductor manufacturers—who are under continual pressure to make smaller, faster computer chips—reduce the time required to develop new...

NIST’s Quick Test May Speed Antibiotic Treatment and Combat Drug Resistance

September 22, 2017

BOULDER, Colo.—Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated a potential new tactic for rapidly determining whether...

Illustration of 5 roundish objects of purple and blue arranged in a circle

NIST Standard Story: Matters of the Heart

September 20, 2017

NIST scientists have thoroughly measured and characterized more than 1,300 physical products, NIST Standard Reference Materials ®, to help people in industry...

New NIST Tool Aims to Improve Accuracy of Test to Determine Cardiovascular Disease Risk

September 19, 2017

Cardiovascular disease caused one out of three deaths in the United States in 2016, and for decades it has been the leading killer for both men and women...

photo of brass-colored measuring instrument

New Method for Identifying Carbon Compounds Derived from Fossil Fuels

September 12, 2017

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a laboratory instrument that can measure how much of the carbon in many...

NIST, NFL, GE and Under Armour Announce Dynamic Research and 6D Helmets as Grand Prize Winner in Head Health Challenge III

September 6, 2017

GAITHERSBURG, MD—The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Football League (NFL), GE (NYSE: GE), and...

MRS Bulletin Material Matters

July 14, 2017

The MGI [Materials Genome Initiative] is going to change the way materials science is done. In the next 10-to-20 years, we’ll be doing materials discovery and...

Scientists Lay the Groundwork for a Reliable Marijuana Breathalyzer

July 5, 2017

Marijuana is now legal for recreational or medicinal use in at least 28 states and the District of Columbia. But driving under the influence of marijuana is...

Woman uses gas analysis mass spectrometer at NBS for chemical analysis of gas or vapor mixtures

NIST Upgrades Widely Used Database of Molecular 'Fingerprints'

June 6, 2017

When scientists need to identify an unknown compound, they do what a police detective might do. They get fingerprints—in this case, the “molecular fingerprints”...

The Genuine Article

May 20, 2017

NIST accelerates the transformation of laboratory discoveries into new therapies and commercial products by assuring the quality of measurements in biomedical...

X-rays from Copper Source Set New Gold Standard for Measuring Industrial Materials

May 12, 2017

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have produced and precisely measured a spectrum of X-rays using a new, state-of-the-art...

Two vials, one with heroin and one with an equivalent dose of fentanyl, which is a much smaller amount.

Fentanyl Can Sicken First Responders. Here’s a Possible Solution.

May 9, 2017

Dan Kallen, a detective in southern New Jersey, was searching a home with fellow officers in August 2015, when they found a bag of white powder. Kallen removed...

diagram of amantadine hydrochloride structure

New NIST Data to Aid Production and Storage of 'Fascinating' Medication

May 2, 2017

Amantadine hydrochloride may be the most common medication you’ve never heard of. This compound has been around for decades as the basis for antiviral and other...

Steel-Reinforced Concrete Building with Severe Corrosion Damage

Move Over, Superman! NIST 'Spectral Fingerprinting' Sees Through Concrete to Detect Early Corrosion

April 26, 2017

When you suffer a fall, an on-the-field collision or some other traumatic blow, the first thing the doctor will do is take an X-ray, CT scan or MRI to determine...

Graphene Lid Revitalizes Imaging Technique

March 31, 2017

By capping liquids with graphene, an ultrathin sheet of pure carbon, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their...

Silk Sensor Could Speed Development of New Infrastructure, Aerospace and Consumer Materials

March 17, 2017

Consumers want fuel-efficient vehicles and high-performance sporting goods, municipalities want weather-resistant bridges, and manufacturers want more efficient...

Strips of magnetic material sit atop blocks of a nonmagnetic heavy metal

Better Nanoimages 'Spin' The Path to Improved Magnetic Memory

March 16, 2017

In work that could help make possible a faster, longer-lasting and lower-energy method of data storage for consumers and businesses, researchers at the National...

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