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Material Measurement Laboratory

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Displaying 26 - 50 of 93

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.

How Henrietta Lacks Changed My View of Human Cells as a Physicist

June 8, 2022

A NIST researcher has developed a whole different kind of appreciation for her samples.

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.

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

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

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

Detecting the Flavors of Important Elements With Neutron Depth Profiling

November 17, 2021

The first five minutes of any presentation I give on neutron depth profiling are usually met with blank stares from my audience. This, I hope, is not something

Robotic Motion and Drug-Carrying Nanoparticles: A Look at Two Paths Through the Diverse World of Manufacturing Research

October 1, 2021

Manufacturing is a colossal industry and key pillar of the U.S. economy. It takes millions of workers to keep this juggernaut moving forward every day

Reflections on Assisting With the 9/11 World Trade Center DNA Identifications

September 1, 2021

On Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, I walked to work from my home in Olde Towne Gaithersburg, Maryland, and arrived at my office shortly before 9 a.m. I had just

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)

50 Years of the ‘Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data’: A Q&A With Editors Allan Harvey and Don Burgess

June 16, 2021

Reference data’s connection to the public is indirect yet often very important. For example, a town’s electricity could come from a steam power plant in which

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

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

Improving Forensic Chemistry: A Q&A With NIST's Ed Sisco

May 5, 2021

Ed Sisco has been a research chemist within the Surface and Trace Chemical Analysis Group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) since

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

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

From 1901 to 2021: Measurements Then and Now

March 3, 2021

A lot has changed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the past 120 years. For one thing, we were known as the National Bureau of

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

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

NIST Gets Going With the Flow Cytometry Standards Consortium

January 27, 2021

Advances in cell and gene therapies are revolutionizing health care by providing curative treatments for previously untreatable diseases. To help develop

Atlantic Salmon Hormones, Trapping Molecular Ions, Lasers for Greenhouse Gas Measurements: Postdocs Share Their Stories on NIST Social Media

January 19, 2021

As the Feb. 1, 2021 deadline approaches for early-career researchers to join the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) National Research Council

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