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Taking Measure

Just a Standard Blog

Health

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.

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

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