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Physical Measurement Laboratory

Sensor Science Division

News and Updates

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Topic Area

NIST, NASA Launch Joint Effort to Develop New Climate Satellites

March 2, 2010

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have launched a joint effort to gather

Proper Vaccine Refrigeration Vital to Putting Disease on Ice

January 26, 2010

Every year, billions of dollars worth of vaccines are shipped to thousands of medical providers across the country, and every year doctors must dispose of tens

Small Nanoparticles Bring Big Improvement to Medical Imaging

November 17, 2009

If you're watching the complex processes in a living cell, it is easy to miss something important--especially if you are watching changes that take a long time

Scientists Create NICE Solution to Pneumonia Vaccine Testing Problems

October 20, 2009

Medical clinics the world over could benefit from new software created at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where a team of scientists

Physicists Find Way to Control Individual Bits in Quantum Computers

July 14, 2009

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have overcome a hurdle in quantum computer development, having devised a viable way to

Shape Matters in the Case of Cobalt Nanoparticles

June 16, 2009

Shape is turning out to be a particularly important feature of some commercially important nanoparticles - but in subtle ways. New studies* by scientists at the

Terahertz Waves Are Effective Probes for IC Heat Barriers

May 5, 2009

By modifying a commonly used commercial infrared spectrometer to allow operation at long-wave terahertz frequencies, researchers at the National Institute of

Scientists Give a Hand(edness) to the Search for Alien Life

April 21, 2009

Visiting aliens may be the stuff of legend, but if a scientific team working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is right, we may be

Making a Point: Picoscale Stability in a Room-Temperature AFM

March 24, 2009

Forget dancing angels, a research team from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado (CU) has shown how to

New Tool Gives Researchers a Glimpse of Biomolecules in Motion

January 13, 2009

The ability of biomolecules to flex and bend is important for the performance of many functions within living cells. However, researchers interested in how

Bright Idea Illuminates LED Standards

November 25, 2008

The lack of common measurement methods among light-emitting diode (LED) and lighting manufacturers has affected the commercialization of solid-state lighting

Gold Nanostars Outshine the Competition

October 14, 2008

Novel nanoparticles being tested at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have researchers seeing stars. In a recent paper, NIST scientists

NIST Assists in Solar Stake-Out to Improve Space Weather Forecasts

July 9, 2008

The sun is about to undergo unremitting scrutiny. About six times each minute of every hour for at least five years, a soon-to-be launched NASA satellite will

Exposing the Sensitivity of Extreme Ultraviolet Photoresists

June 24, 2008

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have confirmed that the photoresists used in next-generation semiconductor

Standards Set for Energy-Conserving LED Lighting

June 24, 2008

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in cooperation with national standards organizations, have taken the lead in developing

Image of the creation of nanodrop 'test tubes'

'Nanodrop' Test Tubes Created with a Flip of a Switch

April 15, 2008

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated a new device that creates nanodroplet "test tubes" for studying

This schematic illustrates the operation of a prototype Lyman alpha neutron detector (LAND).

New NIST Detector Can 'See' Single Neutrons Over Broad Range

March 18, 2008

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Maryland have developed a new optical method that can detect

Loopy Photons Clarify 'Spookiness' of Quantum Physics

March 18, 2008

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Joint Quantum Institute (NIST/University of Maryland) have developed a new

'Micro-boxes' of Water Used to Study Single Molecules

July 20, 2006

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated the use of water droplets as minuscule "boxes" for small numbers of

New NIST Method Improves Accuracy of Spectrometers

June 16, 2005

Measurements of the intensity of light at different wavelengths can be made more accurately now, thanks to a new, simple method for correcting common instrument

Gerald T. Frazer Receives Arthur S. Flemming Award

June 10, 1999

Gerald T. Fraser, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and resident of Montgomery Village, Md., today received the Arthur S

NIST Offers Short Course to Help Industry to Better Measure Temperature

February 17, 1998

Many industrial managers and engineers know that the accuracy of their temperature measurements has a big impact on the quality of their products or the

Potomac Resident Billy Mangum Receives NIST Measurement Science Award

December 10, 1997

The National Institute of Standards and Technology today honored Billy W. Mangum, leader of the Thermometry Group in the Chemical Science and Technology

To Make a Fine Point, New NIST Instrument Analyzes Microscope Tips

March 18, 1997

A new research facility at the National Institute of Standards and Technology accepts tips six at a time, in fact. But the tips are not of the monetary variety

Synthetic Auto Exhaust Helps Car Makers Go With The Flow

December 3, 1996

Why would an environmentally concerned federal agency synthesize auto exhaust? Scientists at the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and

Advanced communications
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Buildings and Construction
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Chemistry
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Electronics
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Energy
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Environment
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Fire
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Forensic Science
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Health
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Information technology
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Nanotechnology
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Physics
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Public safety
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