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Taking Measure Blog Posts

Analytical chemistry

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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20
masked man with baseball cap seated at a lab bench pipetting samples

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

April 28, 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 2014. His research has focused on chemical identification systems for forensics, homeland security and other applications. Ed is a finalist for
a person dispensing hand sanitizer into their hand

NIST Lends a Hand to Hand-Sanitizer Manufacturers

March 12, 2021
William A. MacCrehan
Like everyone on the planet, our organization, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), became concerned with the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020. NIST scientists were anxious to provide any assistance they could to support COVID response efforts. As we were thinking of ways we
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

September 22, 2020
Ashley Boggs
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 people about my work on whales, alligators and fish, to name a few. At the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), I work on
a graphic with a large 5 surrounded by objects from the post including mysterious museum objects, a blackboard with equations on it, a cellphone, and three vials. Additional text above the 5 reads "2019 Taking Measure."

Top 5 NIST Blog Posts of 2019

November 25, 2019
Mark Esser
It’s December, and that means it’s time for us to reflect on the past year, and what a year it was! This year tens of thousands of people tuned into the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Taking Measure blog to get their metrological fix, and we couldn’t be more pleased. Thank you
smiling man with a red baseball cap and white lab coat on in a laboratory full of instruments

Reflections on Growing Up Gay and the Solace of Science

June 26, 2019
Wyatt Vreeland
I was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the mid-’70s into a blue-collar family. My father was a carpenter and my mother was a homemaker. My family was of modest means, but we always had enough food to eat and always had a roof over our heads. On the occasional summer weekend, my parents would scrape
a stylized rendering of the periodic table

The Periodic Table: It's More than Just Chemistry and Physics

May 23, 2019
Ben P. Stein
This is the International Year of the Periodic Table, and while I’ve been (accurately) accused of being a physics fanboy, I’m here to tell you that this famous chart isn’t just about physics, chemistry and the other sciences. It’s also about mathematics and engineering and even nonscientific areas
a stylized graphic of a ribbon of multicolored A's, C's, T's, and G's astride an electrophoresis readout

Forensic Science is in My DNA

September 14, 2018
Mark Stolorow
Working in law enforcement is as tough as it is rewarding. I got my start in 1968 as a beat cop in Ann Arbor, Michigan. My initial years on the force eventually led me to a 50-year career in forensic science. Back in my policing days, pretty much all we had was a uniform, a badge, a nightstick
Tom Bruno with an instrument inside a small suitcase. He holds a tube coming from the suitcase inside a paint can.

Judging the Quality of Forensic Evidence

January 23, 2018
Tom Bruno
While NIST is not a teaching institution per se, teaching comes naturally to many of us who work here. We’re always describing our work in scientific meetings, so it’s not a giant leap to actually teach courses on what we do, though it’s perhaps a little more challenging to teach people about
Steel casement containing Curie's last radium standard

Saving Marie Curie’s Last Radium Standard

February 22, 2017
Bert Coursey
Marie Curie is perhaps the most famous woman of 20th-century science. Major motion pictures and best-selling biographies have chronicled her discovery of the radioactive elements polonium and radium, for which she shared the Nobel Prize in physics in 1903 and then received a second Nobel Prize, this
Roundish shape clear ball containing multiple round-ish shapes with red or orange centers

Taking a Seat at the Periodic Table

February 7, 2017
Michael E. Newman
In case you haven’t already heard, if you wanted to give your loved one that special, once-in-a-lifetime gift by naming one of the elements in row 7 of the Periodic Table after him or her, it’s too late (and probably against the rules anyway, but more on that later). With the recently announced
Diagram with blue background and man standing behind rope line

Ideas Whose Time Has Come (and Gone), v. 2017

December 20, 2016
Robin Materese
A catchphrase from a popular reality show goes: “One day you're in. And the next day, you're out.” For the purposes of the show, the host is referencing fashion. But the same could be said about science. With each new discovery or advance, an old theory or idea often becomes obsolete … or at least
finger pointing to dirty air filter

Indoor Air Quality Is Nothing To Sneeze At

July 18, 2016
Shahana Khurshid
Have you ever wondered if the things inside your house that you consider safe and harmless actually are? The perfume that you spray, the plastic food containers that you put in your dishwasher, the carpet that your kids lie on as they watch their favorite TV show, even the wrinkle-resistant clothing
Hubbard/Meggers Periodic Chart of the Atoms

The Periodic Table: It’s Elementary!

February 12, 2016
C.W. Clark
Of all the many useful and interesting periodic tables on the Internet—the periodic tables of the animals, vegetables, and minerals—and U.S. Presidents, Vienna® Chicago-style hot dog condiments, SQL server dynamic management objects, and paleo food—the original Periodic Table of the Elements remains