Megan King

Four men are protected by a net structure as they look away from the camera toward a drone flying in a large high-ceilinged room with street signs on the walls.

Drones in Disaster Zones: How Advanced 3D Mapping Technology Can Help First Responders Save Lives

January 29, 2025

NIST is working to help emergency workers have more information in a crisis by encouraging the development of advanced drones at an affordable price.

A Christmas tree is engulfed in flames. To the left is a chair. In front is a coffee table, rug and fishbowl. To the right is a tall bookshelf. There are 3 wrapped presents under the tree. A timer reads 8:04 seconds.

Safety Moon Shot: How Fire Research Cut Deaths by Half in a Generation

October 29, 2024

NIST research helped make the smoke alarm a standard part of our homes, and it’s one of many ways our fire research has made everyone safer.

A researcher wearing a lab coat uses tongs to place a silvery sphere into a large scientific device as another researcher looks on.

One of the World’s Roundest Objects Is Helping to Build a Better Mass Measurement

July 17, 2024

Different countries' approaches can lead to different definitions of the kilogram. But NIST is working with our international partners to see how we can close

Several metallic envelopes with NIST labels are displayed with Halloween decorations like cobwebs, skeletons and pumpkins.

There Will Be (Precisely Measured) Blood: A Haunted House Tour Through NIST’s Spookiest Reference Materials

October 27, 2023

This spooky season, join us for a haunted house tour of the scariest standard reference materials in our labs.

NIST researchers Yoshi Ohno and Jane Li demonstrate different types of lighting in their lab on NIST’s campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

The Eye of the Beholder: How Lighting Affects Our Color Perception

June 28, 2023

Remember the social media controversy over the color of a dress? That’s a lighthearted example of how illumination can affect the things we see, but this is

Foiled! NIST Unwraps What’s Baking Under Aluminum in Its Labs

April 5, 2023

Here at NIST, we do a different kind of baking, but we often use the same foil you use in your own kitchen.

From the Space Shuttle to Structural Engineering, NIST’s Tuskegee Airmen Left a Lasting Legacy in Service and Science

February 8, 2023

Four of these men are now known to have continued their careers at NBS, though colleagues at the time didn’t know about their co-workers’ historic past.

Taking Measure