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Search News by Chad Boutin

Displaying 151 - 175 of 555

Virtually Stressing Airplane Wings

April 11, 2017

How do jumbo jet designers develop resilient materials for modern airframes, while still bringing in their projects on time and on budget? Before they prototype

‘Indoor GPS’ Apps Closer to Reality With New NIST Challenge

April 7, 2017

GPS usually works great outdoors, but what if you’re disoriented in a large building such as a museum or a mall? There are no smartphone apps for indoor

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

Making Sure that Lumber Measures Up

March 1, 2017

For some, it is a shocking revelation. But most Americans eventually come to accept the fact that a “two by four” board is actually 1.5 inches by 3.5 inches (38

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

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

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

How Sweet It Is: NIST Metrology and the Maple Syrup Industry

January 4, 2017

NIST is frequently asked to provide unusual, sometimes downright exotic, measurements and calibrations in support of U.S. commerce. But even old hands in the

How To Tell When a Nanoparticle is Out of Shape

December 20, 2016

Nanoparticles -- those with diameters less than one-thousandth the width of a human hair -- are increasingly prevalent in high technology, medicine, and

NIST Asks Public to Help Future-Proof Electronic Information

December 20, 2016

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is officially asking the public for help heading off a looming threat to information security: quantum

A gas detection chip for monitoring air quality

TEDCO Grants Help Scientists Take Their Ideas to Market

December 16, 2016

Sometimes lab research leads to a discovery that’s commercially viable enough to start a company. But for scientists with little business experience, making the

Keeping a Sharp Eye on the Environment from Space

December 7, 2016

On Nov. 19, 2016, America’s most advanced weather satellite rocketed into orbit carrying six new, state-of-the-art instruments, dramatically enhanced

Safer, Less Vulnerable Software Is the Goal of New NIST Computer Publication

December 5, 2016

We can create software with 100 times fewer vulnerabilities than we do today, according to computer scientists at the National Institute of Standards and

For Wearable Electronic Devices, NIST Shows Plastic Holes Are Golden

November 23, 2016

In science, sometimes the best discoveries come when you’re exploring something else entirely. That’s the case with recent findings from the National Institute

Seeing Light’s Effect on Atoms — Within Picoseconds

November 16, 2016

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

Noise, Temperature, and the New SI

November 15, 2016

NIST has recently made substantial improvements to its Johnson-noise thermometry system, which is playing a vital role in the worldwide effort to determine the

This artist’s conception imagines the proposed ring of atoms as cars on a beltway.

Atomic Beltway Could Solve Problems of Cosmic Gravity

November 14, 2016

When is a traffic jam not a traffic jam? When it's a quantum traffic jam, of course. Only in quantum physics can traffic be standing still and moving at the

NIST Collaboration Heats Up Exotic Topological Insulators

October 31, 2016

Fashion is changing in the avant-garde world of next-generation computer component materials. Traditional semiconductors like silicon are releasing their last

Move Over, Lasers: Scientists Can Now Create Holograms from Neutrons, Too

October 20, 2016

For the first time, a team including scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have used neutron beams to create holograms of

Supported by Granite, New SURF Beamline Is Real Heavyweight

September 21, 2016

If your work involves sensing, measuring or using ultraviolet light, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has great news for you: Granite

NIST Patents Single-Photon Detector for Potential Encryption and Sensing Apps

September 15, 2016

Individual photons of light now can be detected far more efficiently using a device patented by a team including the National Institute of Standards and

Crystal Unclear: Why Might This Uncanny Crystal Change Laser Design?

August 26, 2016

Laser applications may benefit from crystal research by scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and China's Shandong University

Harmful Algal Blooms in Their True Colors

August 26, 2016

Explosive growth of cyanobacteria, also called blue-green algae, is nothing new. In fact, such cyanobacteria probably produced the original oxygen in Earth's

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