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Taking Measure Blog Posts

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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9
Title card reads "A Scientific Christmas Tale" with the NIST logo in a wreath and flashing holiday lights.

A Scientific Christmas Tale

December 5, 2023
Robin Materese
’Twas the night before Christmas; NIST staff had gone home. Our director was left to reflect all alone. She thought about NIST and the breadth of its work, from AI to fire to even the quark.
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
Carolyn Burdette, Laura Regalado and Katrice Lippa having an animated discussion in the lab. Behind them is a computer screen and other laboratory equipment, including a liquid chromatography mass spectrometer.

Linking the World Through Chemical Measurements

April 19, 2019
Katrice Lippa
Our modern world depends on global connections. For instance, how can you be sure that the nutrition labels are correct on imported food products such as that fancy pasta you like to buy? How do you know that those products are free of harmful substances like mercury or other heavy metals? Many
NIST scientist with jars of baby food and scientific equipment

(Baby) Food for Thought: The Limits of Detecting Toxic Elements

July 27, 2017
Laura Wood
As the seasoned mom of three grown children, I’m happy to say that they all made it through babyhood without any major health issues. While I worked as an analytical chemist at NIST during their baby years, I wasn’t working on reference materials for measuring nutrients in the foods that they ate or