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Material Measurement Laboratory

News and Updates

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A Better Way to Measure Acceleration

March 8, 2021

You’re going at the speed limit down a two-lane road when a car barrels out of a driveway on your right. You slam on the brakes, and within a fraction of a...

Red fire extinguisher is attached to pipes and hoses inside a vehicle.

NIST Tool Will Help Military Vehicles Fight Fires Using Less Harmful Chemicals

March 2, 2021

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new, interactive spreadsheet that will help the U.S. military...

Spotlight: Putting NIST at the Forefront of Genome Editing

February 23, 2021

We started from the bottom and now we’re here — geneticist and molecular biologist Samantha Maragh brought NIST into a revolution for the biomedical sciences...

Cheryle Beuning poses in front of scientific equipment, wearing safety goggles.

Spotlight: Understanding the Chemical Compounds in Cannabis

February 16, 2021

Keeping you safe with cutting-edge forensic science — NIST postdoctoral researcher Cheryle Beuning is part of a joint effort with the University of Colorado...

Microscope image shows blue and green jagged shapes

Spotlight: Exploring Potential Corrosion in 3D-Printed Titanium

February 12, 2021

Putting the metalloid to the metal, researchers at Boise State University developed a new way to explore how a 3D-printed titanium alloy corrodes, and then...

Alloy mapping shows areas in red, blue, and and other colors.

Spotlight: Unique Alloy for the Automotive Industry

January 25, 2021

Hypothetical scenario: A car hurtles toward a tree and swerves to avoid it when the passenger door meets timber and deforms around it. As the driver, you don't...

A picture of vials of SRM 1992 and SRM 1993

NIST Collaboration Yields First Certified Reference Materials for Zeta Potential

January 19, 2021

Two new Standard Reference Materials from the National Institute of Standards and Technology give researchers and manufacturers a way to check the performance...

A woman (Alix Rodowa) wearing a mask and a lab coat works with scientific equipment.

Spotlight: Alix Rodowa and PFAS in Groundwater

January 15, 2021

Water has fascinated postdoctoral researcher Alix Rodowa since her days in a high school environmental science club. Now, she takes a sample of life at NIST in...

A scientist in lab coat and rubber gloves places a large clear bag of marijuana on a weighing scale.

NIST Study Will Help Labs Distinguish Between Hemp and Marijuana

January 14, 2021

Hemp and marijuana both come from the Cannabis plant. But legally, they are very different. If cannabis has less than 0.3% THC — for tetrahydrocannabinol, the...

A red cylinder made of lipids has five protruding multicolored proteins.

NIST Clarifies Structure of Prospective Vaccine for Respiratory Virus

December 16, 2020

No approved vaccine exists for RSV, a life-threatening virus that attacks the respiratory system. State-of-the-art neutron and X-ray scattering performed at the...

A woman wearing safety goggles and a mask poses in front of a cabinet holding vials.

Spotlight: Kathy Peter’s Cross-County Journey Toward NIST Research Into ‘Forever Chemicals’

December 11, 2020

Search, seek and define — NIST postdoctoral researcher Kathy Peter is on a mission to uncover chemical compounds that fall into the category of PFAS (per- and...

Plot graph shows dark purple block at left with areas growing lighter green to the right.

Nanocylinder Vibrations Help Quantify Polymer Curing for 3D Printing

December 10, 2020

In a step toward making more accurate and uniform 3D-printed parts such as personalized prosthetics and dental materials, researchers at the National Institute...

K9 Chemistry: A Safer Way to Train Detection Dogs

December 2, 2020

Trained dogs are incredible chemical sensors, far better at detecting explosives, narcotics and other substances than even the most advanced technological...

An illustration for AI shows a silhouette of a human head containing icons for computer networks.

NIST AI System Discovers New Material

November 24, 2020

When the words “artificial intelligence” (AI) come to mind, your first thoughts may be of super-smart computers, or robots that perform tasks without needing...

New Airflow Videos Show Why Masks With Exhalation Valves Do Not Slow the Spread of COVID-19

November 10, 2020

Many people wear masks in public to slow the spread of COVID-19, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, masks with...

A woman in lab coat, safety glasses and a mask stands at a lab bench weighing samples.

NIST Researchers Advance Efforts to Accurately Measure Glyphosate Pesticide in Common Foods

November 2, 2020

Pesticides help farmers increase food production, reduce costly damage to crops, and even prevent the spread of insect-borne diseases, but since the chemicals...

A woman wearing safety goggles reaches under a scientific device.

Spotlight: Ran Tao's Investigation Into the Flow of Our World

October 27, 2020

To make a difference in the world, understand the flow, but don’t go with it. The work that NIST guest researcher Ran Tao conducts in rheology, the study of how...

A woman (Callie Higgins) stands in front of a piece of photopolymerization equipment.

Spotlight: Callie Higgins Solidifies Her Place in the World of Photopolymerization

October 18, 2020

NIST’s Callie Higgins has found a place for herself in an emerging and largely mysterious field within manufacturing. As a special branch of additive...

Thermal MagIC: New NIST Project to Build Nano-Thermometers Could Revolutionize Temperature Imaging

October 9, 2020

Cheaper refrigerators? Stronger hip implants? A better understanding of human disease? All of these could be possible and more, someday, thanks to an ambitious...

A medical worker administers a nasal swab test to a person in a car.

NIST Innovation Could Improve Detection of COVID-19 Infections

October 5, 2020

A multidisciplinary research team at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a way to increase the sensitivity of the primary...

A man (Zhi Liang) wearing dark safety goggles leans over a table, working with scientific equipment.

Spotlight: Computing the Properties of a Titan Among Manufacturing Materials

September 26, 2020

Improve the material; improve life. NIST postdoctoral researcher Zhi Liang believes the development of humanity depends on the development of materials, and few...

A woman with safety goggles and gloves stands at a lab bench.

A Better Alternative to Phthalates?

September 25, 2020

Detergents, shampoos, soaps and other everyday items sometimes contain a group of chemicals called phthalates, which are often used to enhance products and add...

Spotlight: From the Alaskan Wilderness to the NIST State-of-the-Art Labs

September 25, 2020

Over the course of seven years, recent postdoctoral researcher Michelle Bailey went from spending summers in the Alaskan wilderness to pushing boundaries in...

woman holding a North American Atlantic salmon

Spotlight: The Trek North for Precious Mucus Hormones in Salmon

September 23, 2020

Something smells fishy, and NIST postdoctoral researcher Erin Legacki is on the job to figure out what’s happening. The North American Atlantic salmon has seen...

A glowing purple bar representing the LED is attached to a green surface by a yellow metal contact.

A Light Bright and Tiny: NIST Scientists Build a Better Nanoscale LED

August 14, 2020

A new design for light-emitting diodes (LEDs) developed by a team including scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) may hold the...

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