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Any time you turn on a light at home or in the office, you are expending energy. But what if flipping the light switch meant producing energy too? We usually
Mercury — the only metal that exists in liquid form at room temperature — may move like water, but its effect on the environment certainly isn’t replenishing
Not all plastics are the same, and they don’t all blend together well during recycling. At NIST, researchers are looking for ways to make recycled plastic
Coral reefs are a favorite spot for scuba divers and are among the world’s most diverse ecosystems. For example, the Hawaiian coral reefs, known as the
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have upgraded their laser frequency-comb instrument to simultaneously measure three
Carbon dioxide emissions in Los Angeles fell 33% in April of 2020 compared with previous years, as roads emptied and economic activity slowed due to the COVID
From the branching pattern of leaf veins to the variety of interconnected pathways that spread the coronavirus, nature thrives on networks — grids that link the
Like a chameleon of the night sky, the Moon often changes its appearance. It might look larger, brighter or redder, for example, due to its phases, its position
To understand climate change, scientists need the ability to constantly measure the solar radiation entering and leaving the Earth’s atmosphere. Researchers
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have installed a Doppler lidar
The crystal known as perovskite is a promising photovoltaic material for harnessing energy from sunlight. Perovskites have several advantages over silicon, the
After the optical frequency comb made its debut as a ruler for light, spinoffs followed, including the astrocomb to measure starlight and a radar-like comb
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new, interactive spreadsheet that will help the U.S. military
On a brisk November morning in 2018, a fire sparked in a remote stretch of canyon in Butte County, California, a region nestled against the western slopes of
Investigating colors in the wind — NIST researchers expand beyond a current spectroscopy technique for measuring greenhouse gases to now detect volatile organic
Water has fascinated postdoctoral researcher Alix Rodowa since her days in a high school environmental science club. Now, she takes a sample of life at NIST in
This news article is reproduced from a blog post that originally appeared in the NIST TAKING MEASURE Just a Standard Blog on December 16 th, 2020. By: Matthew
Search, seek and define — NIST postdoctoral researcher Kathy Peter is on a mission to uncover chemical compounds that fall into the category of PFAS (per- and
The NIST Engineering Laboratory recently launched the Data Collection Instrument (DCI) and Best Practices publication series. This publication series is
Taking another step toward strengthening the nation’s critical infrastructure, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has drafted guidelines
The social and economic impacts of COVID-19 have battered small and medium-sized enterprises, putting millions of jobs in the U.S. at risk. And a year rife with