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Chemistry

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A Safer Way for Police to Test Drug Evidence

September 17, 2019

Scientists have demonstrated a way for police to quickly and safely test whether a baggie or other package contains illegal drugs without having to handle any...

Woman in safety goggles operates an instrument housed in an aluminum briefcase

Sniffing Out Corpses and Other Signs of Trouble

September 10, 2019

Science stinks. So thought Megan Harries as she measured drops of putrescine and cadaverine — the chemicals that give decomposing corpses their distinctive...

Probing the Origin of Alzheimer’s . . . with Transistors

August 7, 2019

A prime suspect in the onset of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases is a normally benign enzyme that is essential to proper development of the nervous system...

Dr. Nicole L. Ritzert is pictured in her ADA lab.

NIST Continues 1920s CRADA Partnership with the American Dental Association

August 1, 2019

The interagency research, which has led to dental products such as tooth-colored composites, the front surface dental mirror, the panoramic x-ray machine...

10 NIST Researchers Receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers

July 25, 2019

WASHINGTON — Ten researchers from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) received the Presidential Early Career...

American Chemical Society highlights NIST paper with Editor’s Choice Award

June 26, 2019

A recent manuscript published in the ACS journal Energy & Fuels was selected for the Editor’s Choice Award, which is given to just one paper every day across...

Table covered with lenses and other optical equipment, and a flat screen mounted high in the background showing a yellow squiggly line across the top and a spiky orange line below.

NIST Infrared Frequency Comb Measures Biological Signatures

June 7, 2019

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and collaborators have demonstrated a compact frequency-comb apparatus that rapidly...

A man in brown camouflage clothing, including baseball cap, gloves and ear protection, uses a long pole to clean the inside of an HVAC unit outside a military tent.

NIST Study Identifies Chemical Blends as Possible Alternative Refrigerants

May 29, 2019

More than a dozen chemical blends could serve as alternative refrigerants that won’t heat the atmosphere as much as today’s refrigerants do, or catch fire...

A woman with goggles prepares a sample near a large instrument.

How Milk Does an Animal Body Good

May 7, 2019

It has been called the world’s most perfect food, and there’s unequivocal evidence that it can fight off disease and build better baby brains. But even after...

Researchers Explore Energy-saving Catalysts that Operate at Room Temperature

April 15, 2019

NIST researchers have explored in unprecedented detail a new breed of catalysts that allow some chemical reactions, which normally require high heat, to proceed...

NMR scientists from ACMD selected for Best Poster award

March 7, 2019

A NIST poster presenting recent breakthroughs in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) analysis of vapor mixtures was recently awarded “Best Poster” at...

After 90 Years, a Better Way to Measure the Composition of Paper

February 14, 2019

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in collaboration with the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO), have developed a...

Photonic Radiation Sensors Survive Huge Doses Undamaged

November 27, 2018

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have published landmark test results that suggest a promising class of sensors can be...

Horizontal blue mesh shaped like chicken wire featuring a regular pattern of some bigger holes. White balls are scattered around and some are going through the big holes.

NIST Simulations Suggest Graphene Can Stretch to Be a Tunable Ion Filter

November 26, 2018

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have conducted simulations suggesting that graphene, in addition to its many other...

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

New Protocol for Measuring Background Levels of Drugs in Crime Labs

September 25, 2018

When crime lab chemists handle evidence that contains illegal drugs, trace amounts of those drugs are inevitably released into the laboratory environment. When...

Data-Sharing Website May Speed Response to New Illegal Drugs

July 5, 2018

The drug overdose epidemic currently gripping the nation is so tenacious in part because it’s being driven by fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that comes in many...

NIST Researchers Simulate Simple Logic for Nanofluidic Computing

June 29, 2018

Invigorating the idea of computers based on fluids instead of silicon, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have shown how...

Two seated people in bunny suits look at a bluish computer image

NIST Neutron Detection Method: Long-Sought Workaround to Helium Shortage?

June 11, 2018

Doctors use X-rays to see inside people, and scientists use neutrons to peer inside advanced materials and devices such as fuel cells to better understand and...

Recent Patent Activity within ACMD

June 7, 2018

A provisional patent by Tom Bruno and Kim Urness of the Applied Chemicals and Materials Division on Inductive Flash Desorption was published on June 7, 2018...

Convective Accelerometer

May 24, 2018

NIST’s Michael Gaitan and his colleagues patented a new type of acceleration sensor in the late 1990s. Known as the “convective accelerometer,” it uses heated...

A Standard for Standards

March 19, 2018

A new NIST standard ensures reliably accurate comparisons of measurements of the purity of tens of thousands of organic materials used throughout the world—in...

A graph with vertical lines showing the mass spectrum of fentanyl

Free Software Can Help Spot New Forms of Fentanyl and Other Illegal Drugs

March 7, 2018

Fentanyl, the synthetic drug that is driving a nationwide overdose epidemic, is not only a killer. It’s also a shape shifter. Illicit chemists are constantly...

NIST Announces 2018 Small Business Innovation Research Funding Opportunity

February 16, 2018

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is now accepting proposals for its 2018 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards. The...

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...

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