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Researchers have spent more than three decades developing and studying miniature biosensors that can identify single molecules. In five to 10 years, when such
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
It’s cool to be small. Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have miniaturized the optical components required to cool atoms
Two new Standard Reference Materials from the National Institute of Standards and Technology give researchers and manufacturers a way to check the performance
In a technique known as DNA origami, researchers fold long strands of DNA over and over again to construct a variety of tiny 3D structures, including miniature
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
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a device to detect a quantum property of electrons, known as spin, in
As computer chips and other electronic devices continue to shrink in size, they become ever more sensitive to contamination. However, detecting the nanoscale
Cheaper refrigerators? Stronger hip implants? A better understanding of human disease? All of these could be possible and more, someday, thanks to an ambitious
Some assembly required — NIST postdoctoral researcher Jacob Majikes takes the smallest fragments of life and combines them into new structures ... or rather
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new method of 3D-printing gels and other soft materials. Published in
By shining white light on a glass slide stippled with millions of tiny titanium dioxide pillars, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and
DNA is not only the blueprint of life; it has become the backbone for making tiny structures that can be inserted into the human body to diagnose and treat
It images single atoms. It maps atomic-scale hills and valleys on metal and insulating surfaces. And it records the flow of current across atom-thin materials
Just as a meter stick with hundreds of tick marks can be used to measure distances with great precision, a device known as a laser frequency comb, with its
Researchers at NIST have devised a way to eliminate a long-standing problem affecting our understanding of both living cells and batteries. When a solid and an
A method worth its metal — filling microscopic holes with gold can be tricky, but NIST scientist Daniel Josell is up for the challenge. A type of medical
NIST researchers utilized a suite of techniques typically reserved to investigate polymer dynamics and structure in nanocomposites with dispersed fillers to
As if they were bubbles expanding in a just-opened bottle of champagne, tiny circular regions of magnetism can be rapidly enlarged to provide a precise method
Eight years ago, NIST researchers developed a groundbreaking microscope that uses a narrow beam of low-energy lithium ions, rather than a beam of light or
NIST researchers have explored in unprecedented detail a new breed of catalysts that allow some chemical reactions, which normally require high heat, to proceed
Just as a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step, the deformations and fractures that cause catastrophic failure in materials begin with a few
Because of their antimicrobial and antifungal properties, silver nanoparticles measuring between one and 100 nanometers (billionth of a meter) in size, are
Manipulating light in a variety of ways—shrinking its wavelength and allowing it to travel freely in one direction while stopping it cold in another--hyperbolic