Materials

Trey Diulus poses sitting in the lab with a large, complex scientific instrument in the foreground.

Curiosity to Career: Encouraging Students to Pursue STEM Education

September 18, 2024

A NIST researcher is volunteering to educate young students about life as a scientist — and encourage kids to envision a career for themselves in STEM.

A researcher wearing safety gear kneels at the open door of a lab fridge, displaying a tray of samples.

Sinking Our Teeth Into Science: How Regenerative Medicine Can Help Make Us Healthier

September 4, 2024

From safer dental products to tracking the movement of tiny plastics through gut tissues, regenerative medicine can make us healthier.

Four people sitting outside on a green tarp wear eclipse glasses as they peer up into the sky.

NIST Researchers Measure Greenhouse Gases During the Solar Eclipse

June 5, 2024

Check out some of the things happening at NIST during the past few months through the lens of social media.

Brad Sutliff wears safety glasses as he stands in the lab in front of a computer monitor.

From Trash to Cash: How AI and Machine Learning Can Help Make Recycling Less Expensive for Local Governments

May 15, 2024

Can AI help us recycle better? A NIST researcher is working to make that happen.

Close-up shows shiny metal patches with areas of green corrosion and open holes.

Houston, We Have the Engine Remnants: How My Lab Pieced Together a Forgotten Part of an Apollo Rocket

March 13, 2024

Like many people, I had dreams of flying into space as an astronaut when I was a child. That interest in aerospace and space exploration has continued

A small orange is packaged in a plastic container with a lid.

A Polymer Scientist Wrestles — Literally and Figuratively — With the Frustrations of Plastic Packaging

January 24, 2024

If you’ve resolved to be a more eco-conscious consumer this year, learn about how NIST’s circular economy lead thinks about plastic packaging in our everyday

Melinda Kleczynski poses sitting at her desk, with a monitor showing data and graphs behind her.

From Diamonds in Your Computer to Safer Medications, NIST Researchers Look at What’s Next for 2024 and Beyond

January 3, 2024

Our up-and-coming researchers look ahead to 2024 and beyond — and tell us how their work will impact the world.

Diana Ortiz-Montalvo, wearing safety glasses and holding a small circular filter with tweezers, poses with Abigail Lindstrom in the lab.

Microplastics Mystery: Sampling Airborne Microplastics at a Recycling Facility

October 11, 2023

During National Hispanic Heritage Month, a NIST researcher shares how her upbringing in Puerto Rico inspired her to study air quality.

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.

Camila Espina Young poses outdoors for a head shot

Hurricane Maria Recollections, Software Nostalgia, The Brothers Engineering: A Sample of Stories on NIST Social Media

November 9, 2022

The work happening at NIST can often be described as more than simply “work.”

Two women in hiking gear stands at the top of a canyon, which is in the background.

Speeding Up Carbon Capture: A Q&A With NIST Scientist Pamela Chu

August 24, 2022

She explains what NIST is doing to speed up the chemical reactions — and the innovations — that might help slow down climate change.

Jeffrey Fong poses smiling in front of a railing overlooking a concrete dam.

My Journey From Designing Dams to Helping Structures Live Their Longest Lives

August 4, 2022

Jeffrey Fong writes about how his personal drive for safe engineering design led him to work at NIST.

Your Old Clothes Can Come Full Circle With Textile Recycling

May 9, 2022

When NIST hosted the Facilitating a Circular Economy for Textiles workshop last fall, I learned that all unwanted textile products should be donated or recycled

Waste Not, Want Not: The ‘Circular Economy’ Gives NIST New Opportunities to Help Create a More Environmentally Sound Future

April 22, 2022

Our program should enable technological solutions that can be scaled up from individual molecules to entire industries across the whole supply chain.

A couch is in flames in a mocked-up room inside a large fire testing facility.

Saving Lives by Making Upholstered Furniture More Resistant to Fire

February 9, 2022

Fires that begin on upholstered furniture such as sofas are the leading cause of home fire fatalities in the United States, accounting for about 600 deaths per

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

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

Analyzing the Aftermath of the Twin Towers Aircraft Impacts

August 27, 2021

I consider myself lucky to have been able to perform contract engineering research and consulting for my entire career. The work environment has been somewhere

Passing Photons Through Chicken, VR for First Responders, and 3D-Printed Metal: A Sample of Stories on NIST Social Media

June 9, 2021

Sending “spooky” pairs of photons through biological materials, using virtual reality to test emergency communications technology, bolstering confidence in the

3D Printing With Light: A Q&A With NIST's Callie Higgins

May 3, 2021

Callie Higgins is a materials research engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). She studies a special branch of additive

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

Internships in the Time of COVID: A Q&A With Shelby Platner and NIST's Zach Trautt

February 4, 2021

Across the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), internships are a very important experience for students and staff members alike. But for most

Is Your Qubit Better Than My Qubit?

February 10, 2021

I had been studying superconducting quantum computing for seven years before I was stumped by this seemingly simple question: How do I know if my qubit is

Need Some Good News? NIST’s 2020 Highlights

December 22, 2020

2020 has been a challenging year, but we at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have worked as hard as we can to fulfill our mission for

The New NIST Fire Calorimetry Database Is Available to Answer Your Burning Questions

December 16, 2020

Several centuries ago, scientists discovered oxygen while experimenting with combustion and flames. One scientist called it “fire air.” Today, at the National

How Can NIST Help: Collaborating at a Distance to Defeat COVID-19

June 16, 2020

I’ve been working from home since March 13. But even though I’ve been remote, I am still really connected to my colleagues — and have even created some new

My Stay-at-Home Lab Shows How Face Coverings Can Slow the Spread of Disease

June 11, 2020

Editor’s note: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing face coverings in public settings. Since COVID-19 spreads mainly from person to

$an opalescent close up of Roman glass. There is a clear semi-circular fracture in the center of the piece.$

Ancient Roman Glass, Perceiving Color in LED, 3D Mapping for Public Safety, SRMs in Space: A Sample of Stories From the Social Sphere

May 26, 2020

Photos of culinary masterpieces, opinions on world events, memories from the good times … we share a lot on social media to feel connected and together

How Robots Could Teach Us to Trust AI

April 28, 2020

The influence of artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere in our lives. It helps us pick movies to stream, recommends old friends to reconnect with, and

How Extreme Ultraviolet Light Helps Give Us Smarter Smartphones and Stronger Satellites

April 21, 2020

In 2019, after decades of effort, manufacturers used a new technology to create smartphones with individual circuit features as small as 7 nanometers (nm), or

Taking Measure