Health

A medical worker wears gloves as she prepares to swab the nose of a female patient.

Measuring the Accuracy of PCR Tests Can Improve Health Care Beyond COVID-19

September 13, 2023

Many of us have taken a COVID-19 test. But, have you ever wondered, after your sample goes off to a lab, exactly how they arrive at a positive or negative

Miral Dizdaroglu wears safety glasses as he poses in the lab next to an open spectrometer, which looks a little like a microwave with extra buttons.

How We Studied DNA Damage in Cooked Food — and What It Might Mean for Our Health

September 20, 2023

When you eat plants or meat, you’re also eating a tiny amount of that plant or animal’s DNA. But what happens to that plant or animal DNA when you cook the food

Two people wearing coveralls in a "clean room" lab look up at a disk-shaped object that one of them is holding.

Agents of Contrast, Software Runaway Hit, Our Early Universe: A Sample of Stories on NIST Social Media

September 6, 2023

Curious? It’s time to get you caught up on a few of the summer happenings at NIST.

Protecting People From Plumbing Pathogens Is Personal to Me

August 16, 2023

Pathogens can get into our water through plumbing and are especially dangerous for people with compromised immune systems.

Grace Waters poses smiling in the lab, leaning against a desk with a computer monitor showing data and graphs.

A Summer of Science: NIST Interns’ Stories of Their Time in the Lab

August 2, 2023

From measuring UV light to working on virtual reality software, a summer at NIST is not your average internship.

Melissa Phillips, wearing safety glasses, poses leaning over an open chest freezer, holding a plastic bag of spinach.

Organic, Vegetarian or Carnivore: Whatever You Eat, My Lab Is Working to Keep It Safe

May 18, 2023

The levels of contaminants in our food supply are, generally, decreasing, but we still need to make sure our food is safe. And measuring tiny things (and big

We Need a Second Earth to Support Our Current Consumption. We Can Do Better if We Think ‘Circular.’

April 19, 2023

If we’re going to secure a sustainable future on the only planet we have to live on, we must transition to a circular economy, where we keep material in use

NIST’s Researchers Look Ahead to High-Tech Trends in 2023 and Beyond

December 27, 2022

They study topics that impact all of us, from indoor air quality to cybersecurity.

Ming Zheng stands outside smiling and holding a model of a nanotube made of a lattice of smaller tubes.

To See Life in a Drop of Blood

July 13, 2022

A NIST researcher shares his excitement about the promise of a hybrid molecule that can detect disease.

Yellowish blades of kelp are growing under the surface of the water.

Improving Recycling, Tracking Mercury and Analyzing Kelp: A Sample of Eco-Friendly Research Featured on NIST Social Media

June 15, 2022

Preserving our planet's health is no small feat, and NIST researchers are tackling the challenge from multiple angles.

Historical photo shows two rows of women working at long tables.

New Jersey’s ‘Radium Girls’ and the NIST-Trained Scientist Who Came to Their Aid

March 16, 2022

Radiation expert and historian Bert Coursey, who has worked at NIST for 50 years, writes extensively on the history of radium and radiation standards. He

$Micrograph shows fractures appearing at junction of enamel and dentin.$

Teeth: From Materials Science to Dentistry and Evolutionary Biology

February 2, 2022

As a happily retired materials scientist from NIST, I have continued a long-standing interest in how materials deform and fracture under high stress. My

Clear glass "boxes" with tubes coming in and out

That’s a Wrap: Selects From the NIST Invent Calendar

January 5, 2022

We have a gift for you, packaged up in December 2021 and now ready to experience in full. Each day in December, the NIST Invent Calendar revealed innovations

A white telescope dish is surrounded by wooded mountains in autumn colors.

In Case You Missed It From NIST: 2021 Edition

December 21, 2021

While the pandemic still grips the world, researchers at NIST continue their work on COVID-19 related research, as well as the wide range of other science and

Finding the STAMP of Human-Made Pollutants in Seabird Eggs

December 1, 2021

How can one deny the majesty of seabirds soaring over the ocean or diving underwater to capture prey? That said, collecting seabird eggs to preserve them to

$close up of a clear fractured glass like substance with some rainbow distortions$

Clear as Glass: Studying Drug-Delivery Materials as a NIST SURF Student

October 6, 2021

This summer was an interesting one, to say the least. I was in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program offered by the National Institute of

Working to Improve Small-Scale MRIs: My Summer as a SURF Student at NIST

September 29, 2021

I didn’t really know what to expect on the first day of my virtual Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program at the National Institute of

Making Measurements With a Fine-Toothed Comb

September 22, 2021

To many people, a measurement sounds mundane, like marking ticks on a ruler or reading the line on a thermometer. It’s a piece of data. And they tend to think

Eavesdropping on Hormones to Help Understand Reproduction

July 21, 2021

Every vertebrate on the planet has evolved a complex system that uses small molecules called hormones to communicate directives to isolated tissues that impact

Creating a PFAS-Contaminated Meat SRM: A Q&A With NIST Chemists Melissa Phillips and Ben Place

June 23, 2021

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) research chemists Melissa Phillips and Ben Place are working to create a Standard Reference Material (SRM)

Creating and Commercializing a Human ‘Body Cube’ for Testing New Drugs

May 28, 2021

Growing up, I always had a love for living things, so I went off to college and got an undergraduate degree in biology. After that, I realized I wanted to

Fundamental Constants Are the Future of Measurement. Can They Replace Artifacts for Measuring Isotopes?

May 11, 2021

In an essay titled “ The end of artefacts , ” Nobel laureate and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) fellow William D. Phillips details how

NIST Lends a Hand to Hand-Sanitizer Manufacturers

March 18, 2021

Like everyone on the planet, our organization, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), became concerned with the COVID-19 outbreak in March

RNA Structure and Dynamics: The One-Two Punch in the Fight Against COVID-19

February 24, 2021

We are all well aware of COVID-19, and by now most people have seen pictures of the spike protein that forms the “handshake” interaction between virus and host

NIST Radioactivity Measurements Get the Ball Rolling for New Cancer Therapies

February 18, 2021

From the earliest days of radioactivity research, radiation and cancer therapy have gone together like peas and carrots. But Zach Levine covered peas and

The NIST Summer Undergraduate Fellowship Program Goes Virtual

February 2, 2021

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) designed the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program to inspire undergraduate students

Developing an Exposure Notification System to Blunt the Spread of COVID-19 and Future Pandemics

November 10, 2020

I am part of a grassroots effort at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that is developing an exposure notification system for pandemics

Paving the Way for Electronic Organs-on-a-Chip

November 25, 2020

It may sound like science fiction, but “organ on a chip” systems — devices capable of imitating the interaction of cells in a specific organ such as the lungs

NIST Charleston researchers Ashley Boggs-Russell (sitting) and Amanda Moors (standing) work with researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Marine Mammal Foundation to process tissue samples during veterinary assessments of wild bottlenose dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. No dolphins were harmed in this process.

Tracking Hormones on Land and at Sea

October 15, 2020

It’s usually pretty straightforward to explain how my work on clinical measurements is a benefit to society, but sometimes I get confused looks when I tell

graphic showing scientist in her lab interacting with computer screen and chemicals. There is a parrot on a perch to her right.

A Bird’s Eye View: Finding New Ways to Track Synthetic Chemicals in the Environment

September 23, 2020

I’m not a scientist. I’m not sure if that admission will turn the editorial overlords at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) against me

Taking Measure