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Physics

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The New Standard for Resistance Standards?

May 22, 2017

Contrary to the popular maxim, resistance is not futile. But it is quantized: The ratings of the heat-making resistors in your hair dryer or toaster ultimately

Illustration of laser cooling motion of atomic ion

NIST Physicists Find a Way to Control Charged Molecules – with Quantum Logic

May 10, 2017

BOULDER, Colo.—National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) physicists have solved the seemingly intractable puzzle of how to control the quantum

A Faster Way to Calibrate Piston Gauges

May 2, 2017

For industry and government labs to ensure their pressure-measurement machines are working correctly, they need a reliable source of pressure. Often, that

Cool It, Hot Rod: Improving Early Lasers

May 1, 2017

In the first decade after the invention of the laser one challenge to improving laser quality was the distortion of a laser’s rod due to absorption of heat

Making an Airtight Case for Freedom

April 27, 2017

President Abraham Lincoln’s first handwritten draft of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, a historic document in the collection of the New York State

NIST Invents Fundamental Component for ‘Spintronic’ Computing

April 26, 2017

NIST has been granted a patent for technology that may hasten the advent of a long-awaited new generation of high-performance, low-energy computers.

Supercomputing: Probing the Future

April 25, 2017

NIST scientists have developed a novel automated probe system for evaluating the performance of computer components designed to run 100 times faster than today

Measuring Acceleration with Light

March 29, 2017

Most people have never seen an accelerometer -- a device that measures change in velocity -- and wouldn’t know where to look. Yet accelerometers have become

NIST Physicists Show Ion Pairs Perform Enhanced 'Spooky Action'

March 28, 2017

Adding to strong recent demonstrations that particles of light perform what Einstein called “spooky action at a distance,” in which two separated objects can

Testing the Performance of Semiconductors – with Light

March 28, 2017

Semiconductors are the cornerstone of modern electronics. They’re used in solar cells, light emitting diodes (LEDs), microprocessors in laptops and cell phones

Quantum Computers May Have Higher Speed Limits Than Previously Thought

Quantum Computers May Have Higher ‘Speed Limits’ Than Thought

March 24, 2017

How fast will a quantum computer be able to calculate? While fully functional versions of these long-sought technological marvels have yet to be built, one

1st North American Conference on Trapped Ions

March 20, 2017

The Ion Storage group at NIST Boulder will be holding a new Ion Trap Conference at our laboratory. The conference will be similar in scope and aims to the

A Standard for Lighting Color Preference?

March 10, 2017

One of the goals of artificial lighting is to make things look natural. White light can make an otherwise appetizing sandwich look like garbage, if the reds

JILA Team Discovers Many New Twists in Protein Folding

March 2, 2017

BOULDER, Colo.-- Biophysicists at JILA have measured protein folding in more detail than ever before, revealing behavior that is surprisingly more complex than

Mystery of the Dark Solitons

February 24, 2017

When your heart beats, blood courses through your arteries in waves of pressure. These pressure waves manifest as your pulse, a regular rhythm unperturbed by

NIST researcher Jodie Pope with the big blue ball

Better Flowmeters with the Big Blue Ball

February 24, 2017

Last year, upwards of 25 trillion cubic feet of natural gas were delivered to customers in the United States, and when it changed hands, nearly every cubic foot

Getting the Inside Story on Products with Computed Tomography

February 22, 2017

It is often the case that a valuable new industrial capability brings with it a whole new set of challenges for measurement science -- and thus, inevitably, for

Introducing Xenos, NIST’s Largest Coordinate Measuring Machine

February 22, 2017

When you walk into the laboratory that houses NIST’s newest coordinate measuring machine (CMM), you might be puzzled at first about how engineers got it into

Light on the Rebound: ROSI Sees It from Every Angle

February 13, 2017

We see the world in reflection: Nearly all the light that enters our eyes has bounced off something first, bringing with it information about the nature of the

Gauging Multi-Kilowatt Laser Power with the Pressure of Light

January 24, 2017

A multi-kilowatt laser beam can cut through steel and melt bricks into glass. Many industries use high-power lasers like these to precisely cut and weld metals

Wearable ‘Watches’ to Monitor Your Blood Pressure

January 24, 2017

What if there were a wearable fitness device that could monitor your blood pressure continuously, 24 hours a day? Unfortunately, blood pressure (BP)

School building with overlay of units and constants

Heads Up, High School Class of '19: New Measurement Unit Definitions Are Coming

January 23, 2017

Next year, scientists expect to change the way we define the basic units with which we measure our universe. An article by scientists at the National Institute

Calibrating the Calibrator: The National Standard Neutron Source

January 17, 2017

Neutron detectors and sources play critical roles in national defense, homeland security, nuclear power plant control, radiation medicine, petroleum exploration

NIST Physicists ‘Squeeze’ Light to Cool Microscopic Drum Below Quantum Limit

January 11, 2017

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have cooled a mechanical object to a temperature lower than previously thought possible

Illustration of strontium lattice atomic clock

JILA Atomic Clock Mimics Long-sought Synthetic Magnetic State in Solids

December 21, 2016

Using their advanced atomic clock to mimic other desirable quantum systems, JILA physicists have caused atoms in a gas to behave as if they possess unusual

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