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Materials

News and Updates

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NIST AI System Discovers New Material

November 24, 2020

When the words “artificial intelligence” (AI) come to mind, your first thoughts may be of super-smart computers, or robots that perform tasks without needing

A new twist on measuring spin: NIST Develops Microresonator to Study Electron Spin in Small Volumes

November 17, 2020

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a device to detect a quantum property of electrons, known as spin, in

Square wood box with multicolored wires arranged in ever-smaller squares inside and three small plastic strips attached in several places.

NIST Sensor Experts Invent Supercool Mini-Thermometer

November 17, 2020

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have invented a miniature thermometer with big potential applications, such as

NIST Designs a Prototype Fuel Gauge for Orbit

November 12, 2020

Liquids aren’t as well behaved in space as they are on Earth. Inside a spacecraft, microgravity allows liquids to freely slosh and float about. This behavior

New Airflow Videos Show Why Masks With Exhalation Valves Do Not Slow the Spread of COVID-19

November 10, 2020

Many people wear masks in public to slow the spread of COVID-19, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, masks with

A woman wearing safety goggles reaches under a scientific device.

Spotlight: Ran Tao's Investigation Into the Flow of Our World

October 27, 2020

To make a difference in the world, understand the flow, but don’t go with it. The work that NIST guest researcher Ran Tao conducts in rheology, the study of how

A novel, low-cost method detects nanoscale contaminants during manufacture of semiconductor devices

October 19, 2020

As computer chips and other electronic devices continue to shrink in size, they become ever more sensitive to contamination. However, detecting the nanoscale

What Laser Color Do You Like?

October 13, 2020

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Maryland have developed a microchip technology that can convert

Thermal MagIC: New NIST Project to Build Nano-Thermometers Could Revolutionize Temperature Imaging

October 9, 2020

Cheaper refrigerators? Stronger hip implants? A better understanding of human disease? All of these could be possible and more, someday, thanks to an ambitious

A fire burns along the ground at the edge of a wooded area.

NIST Awards More Than $4 Million to Small Businesses for Innovations in AI, Wildfire Forecasting and More

October 1, 2020

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded 19 small businesses in 12 states a total

A man (Zhi Liang) wearing dark safety goggles leans over a table, working with scientific equipment.

Spotlight: Computing the Properties of a Titan Among Manufacturing Materials

September 26, 2020

Improve the material; improve life. NIST postdoctoral researcher Zhi Liang believes the development of humanity depends on the development of materials, and few

NIST Scientists Get Soft on 3D Printing

September 22, 2020

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new method of 3D-printing gels and other soft materials. Published in

Making the DNA Melt Curve More Accurate

August 18, 2020

DNA is not only the blueprint of life; it has become the backbone for making tiny structures that can be inserted into the human body to diagnose and treat

A glowing purple bar representing the LED is attached to a green surface by a yellow metal contact.

A Light Bright and Tiny: NIST Scientists Build a Better Nanoscale LED

August 14, 2020

A new design for light-emitting diodes (LEDs) developed by a team including scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) may hold the

Spin Wave Detective Story Redux: NIST Researchers Find More Surprising Behavior in a 2D Magnet

August 4, 2020

A few months ago, a team of scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) reported something surprising about a 2D magnetic material

A Crazier Crazy Straw for Science

July 28, 2020

What do the loopy straws that children like to sip drinks through have in common with cutting-edge science? Ask Ryan Murphy and his colleagues at the National

Atomic ‘Swiss Army Knife’ Precisely Measures Materials for Quantum Computers

July 6, 2020

It images single atoms. It maps atomic-scale hills and valleys on metal and insulating surfaces. And it records the flow of current across atom-thin materials

Micrograph shows coiled fibers on yellow background with inset of lighter yellow square.

Face Coverings Made From Layered Cotton Fabric Likely Slow the Spread of COVID-19 Better Than Synthetics, New Study Finds

June 29, 2020

Researchers have completed a new study of how well a variety of natural and synthetic fabrics filter particles of a similar size to the virus that causes COVID

Two vertical strings of electrons form magnons. Spin waves passing through the left magnon string are larger than those passing through the right, indicating the difference between an on and off state.

MIT, NIST Create First Room-Temp ‘Magnon Switch’ With Industrially Useful Properties

June 15, 2020

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have demonstrated a potentially new

NIST Software Aids the Analysis of Instrumented Charpy Tests

June 9, 2020

To help labs characterize the toughness of steel, a new software package allows analysis of instrumented Charpy tests, or Charpy tests augmented with strain

A man wearing safety goggles leans over a scientific device.

Spotlight: Collaboration With CHiMaD to Build New Materials That Can Take a Hit

June 8, 2020

Impact in 3 … 2 … 1 … Meet Marcos Reyes-Martinez, a NIST researcher working to build new materials that could protect fragile items in transit, spacecraft

$an opalescent close up of Roman glass. There is a clear semi-circular fracture in the center of the piece.$