News and Updates

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NIST Researchers Probe the Mass of the Electron Neutrino

September 29, 2025

Neutrinos are the lightest elementary particles in the universe. But exactly how much do they weigh? For three decades, physicists have sought answers to this...

Illustration of DNA molecules entering a tube with lightning bolt in foreground

New Technique for Measuring DNA Damage Could Improve Cancer Therapy and Radiological Emergency Response

August 21, 2025

The technology, which may someday be as portable as a smartphone, promises faster and more accurate measurements of radiation exposure, potentially saving lives...

Circuit board with various square chips and gold screws. Small letters in the center say: NIST True Bq.

New NIST Method Precisely Measures Radioactivity in Tiny Samples

July 8, 2025

This development could support improved cancer treatments, nuclear fuel reprocessing for advanced reactors and other fields.

New NIST Standard Helps Deliver the Right Dosage of Cancer-Fighting Drugs

June 3, 2025

NIST is helping drug companies accurately measure the amount of radioactivity in their actinium-225 drugs.

NIST Moonlight Data Will Help Satellites Get a More Accurate Look at Earth

May 20, 2025

Reliable measurements of the light from our planet can help industries from agriculture to meteorology to mining.

Sources and Detectors group ensures U. S. Military gas mask performance

February 26, 2025

“To survive and win…we must leverage ingenuity and technology to develop comprehensive solutions” -U. S. Army CBRN capability development update, 2024 CBRN...

Just for KICS!

December 2, 2024

Sensors capable of detecting individual photons of visible light have become essential for applications ranging from imaging faint galaxies to quantum computing...

Incoming radiation deposits energy into the TKID circuit.

NIST Study Probes the Damaging Effects of Radiation on Qubits

November 19, 2024

Qubits, the fundamental unit of quantum information, form the building blocks of quantum computers. Because qubits are not limited to the two states, “0” and “1...

Cassie Stoffer smiles while wearing safety glasses and standing next to a large metal tank with many pipes and wires attached to it.

Spotlight: Cassie Stoffer Helps Run Calibration and Measurement Services Related to Magnetic Resonance

August 27, 2024

If you ask NIST physicist Cassie Stoffer what she finds most exciting about science, it’s seeing what she learned in a textbook have real-world applications...

A high-tech laboratory with large black equipment featuring two circular insets showing detailed machinery setups. A computer workstation is in the foreground.

From Pandemics to Pedicures: NIST Rebuilds World-Class UV Calibration System

July 22, 2024

UV detectors need to be carefully calibrated to ensure that the UV light used is both safe and effective.

The Big Quantum Chill: NIST Scientists Modify Common Lab Refrigerator to Cool Faster With Less Energy

April 23, 2024

By modifying a refrigerator commonly used in both research and industry, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have...

Bullseye! NIST Devises a Method to Accurately Center Quantum Dots Within Photonic Chips

March 18, 2024

Devices that capture the brilliant light from millions of quantum dots, including chip-scale lasers and optical amplifiers, have made the transition from...

Microwave Detectors and Multiplexing: NIST Researchers Help Astronomers Examine the Early Universe

January 24, 2024

Perched atop a high plateau in Chile’s Atacama Desert, a long-awaited observatory is beginning to take shape: the largest suite of ground-based telescopes...

A new small-scale measurement invention ready for licensing

May 9, 2023

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is the United States’ premier standards and measurements laboratory. NIST’s numerous varied and wide...

NIST Scientists Develop Novel CT Scan Device for Integrated Circuits

April 14, 2023

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their colleagues have developed a novel tabletop device that takes three...

Ileana Pazos sits and smiles for a photo next to scientific equipment. She's holding tweezers next to the machine.

Spotlight: Research Chemist Ileana Pazos’ Radiant Role in Longer-Lasting, Safer Imported Foods

March 24, 2023

Fruits and vegetables brought in from outside the country first require health and foodborne pathogen inspections. NIST research chemist Ileana Pazos helps the...

Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detector

Unveiling the Universe: In 4 New Studies, NIST Explores Novel Ways to Hunt Dark Matter

December 8, 2022

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.

Research on the Rocks: Combining Neutrons and X-Ray Imaging, NIST Scientists Study Meteorites to Explore the Mystery of How Earth Acquired Its Water

November 3, 2022

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...

Star Light, Star Bright … But Exactly How Bright?

September 22, 2022

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...

Calibrating the Universe: Behind the Scenes, NIST Scientists Play a Critical Role in Improving Gravitational Wave Measurements

August 2, 2022

Space-time ripples, exploding stars, colliding black holes …. and the National Institute of Standards and Technology? NIST doesn’t exactly come to mind when...

Out of the Shadows: New Imaging Method Reveals Concealed Objects

July 19, 2022

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...

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Radiation