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After it's all over, your lights will be just as bright, and your refrigerator just as cold. But very soon the ampere -- the SI base unit of electrical current
Photons are bizarre: They have no mass, but they do have momentum. And that allows researchers to do counterintuitive things with photons, such as using light
Companies will continue to generate and maintain their own in-house standards for each specific monoclonal antibody therapeutic drugs, but the new NIST
GAITHERSBURG, Md.—The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued one of the world's most intricate measurement standards: an exhaustively
It's really hard to hear what the brain is saying. Neural impulses -- currents of ions moving through channels between the brain's 100 billion neurons at a
A high-tech version of an old-fashioned balance scale at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has just brought scientists a critical step
A physics experiment performed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has enhanced scientists' understanding of how free neutrons decay
The last few bolts were tightened just weeks ago – by hand. Now fully restored, NIST's 4.45 meganewton (one million pounds-force) deadweight machine – the
Elemental mercury – which is being phased out of commercial thermometers worldwide due to safety concerns – may also be replaced as a temperature reference
Update: The work that was described in this article led to the publishing of the ASTM E3125-17 standard in December 2017.
Large-volume 3D laser scanners play
Whether you're using a landline or cell phone, there's a good chance that the signal spends at least some time traveling over fiber-optic cables. To ensure that
It's official: NIST's 4.45-million newton (equivalent to one million pounds-force) deadweight machine – the largest in the world – is back in one piece after a
NIST researchers have devised a way to synchronize the time of two different clocks – separated by as much as 4 km of open, turbulent air – to within a few
When a team of researchers at NIST's Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML) first tested a new kind of pressure sensor two years ago, initial results showed it
Capturing carbon dioxide gas and storing it underground is a promising strategy for reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Scientists at the National
Converting a single photon from one color, or frequency, to another is an essential tool in quantum communication, which harnesses the subtle correlations
They activate airbags. Keep aircraft correctly positioned in flight. Detect earthquakes or sudden vibrations in failing machinery. Guide military hardware
As the sizes of computer chips in electronic devices continue to shrink, traditional measurement tools (e.g., microscopes utilizing visible light) are no longer
The Internet Time Service operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) serves much of the Earth, with customers from around the globe
Today's atomic clocks are ridiculously accurate. The best of them tell time so well that if they had been running since the Big Bang, by now they would not have
Hyperspectral images allow humans to see what otherwise might be invisible. Unlike ordinary cameras, which record information in each of three broad color bands
Recipients of an annual flu shot may be surprised to learn that there is currently no official standard for vaccine storage equipment in clinics, pharmacies
NIST scientists have devised and improved a prototype instrument the size of a loaf of bread that can substantially increase the accuracy of length measurements
Perhaps fortunately, most folks haven't noticed that 85% of the Milky Way is missing: The kind of familiar, ordinary matter we know – made up of protons
By marrying state-of-the-art nanometer-scale gratings with a Space Age-era thin-film polymer, researchers working at the National Institute of Standards and