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For decades, astronomers and physicists have been trying to solve one of the deepest mysteries about the cosmos: An estimated 85% of its mass is missing.
Each year, hundreds of meteorites — rocky bodies left over from the formation of the solar system — bombard Earth, delivering minerals, metals and water to our
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but for astronomers, simply recording images of stars and galaxies isn’t enough. To measure the true size and absolute
Space-time ripples, exploding stars, colliding black holes …. and the National Institute of Standards and Technology? NIST doesn’t exactly come to mind when
A new way of imaging concealed objects, devised by a researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and his colleagues, might take all
Shine a flashlight into murky pond water and the beam won’t penetrate very far. Absorption and scattering rapidly diminishes the intensity of the light beam
Jeffrey Herrera is one of NIST’s health physicists, ensuring our ability to safely use radioactive materials for research and supporting radiation safety
The 19th International Workshop on Low Temperature Detectors (LTD19) was an opportunity for researchers from around the world to exchange information about the
For some 30 years, scientists have used superconducting materials to record the tiniest specks of light imaginable — individual photons, or single particles of
From the stars to the Lilliputian — a new camera lens using the power of reflection has the potential to transform neutron imaging. Wolter optics, named after
Dating can be complicated. Our team uses this instrument — a live-timed anticoincidence counter — to figure the decay rate of an isotope, which we can then use
GAITHERSBURG, Md. — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday to unveil a
Look at an astronomical marvel like the Cat’s Eye Nebula at right, with an average gas temperature about twice as hot as the surface of the Sun. It seems
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have published landmark test results that suggest a promising class of sensors can be
Catching cancer early can make all the difference for successful treatment. A common screening practice measures tumor growth with X-ray computed tomography (CT
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
Neutron detectors and sources play critical roles in national defense, homeland security, nuclear power plant control, radiation medicine, petroleum exploration
For the first time in a laboratory setting, NIST scientists have made stop-action x-ray measurements of the way visible light interacts with atoms and molecules
Neutrons, the charge-less constituents of atomic nuclei, are nifty imagers. Since the 1950s, scientists have been using these particles' eerie ability to non
Last spring, PML's x-ray calibration facilities were used in a pinch – a Z pinch, that is.
The Sandia National Laboratories' Z Pulsed Power Facility, or "Z
A collaboration between NIST scientists and colleagues at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has resulted in a new kind of sensor that can be used to
Doctors devising a plan of attack on a tumor may one day gain another tactical advantage thanks to a series of sophisticated calculations proposed by PML's
A little detective work by nuclear physicists has uncovered hidden uncertainties in a popular method for precisely measuring radioactive nuclides, often used to
As cancer diagnostic tools, a new class of imagers – which combines positron-emission tomography (PET) with magnetic resonance imaging (MR or MRI) – has shown