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Search News by Chad Boutin

Displaying 176 - 200 of 547

Powered by Quantum Cycles: Cold-Atom Pump

May 25, 2016

By manipulating the behavior of particles at a quantum level, scientists at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI, a research partnership of NIST and the University

Right Size + Right Chemistry = Right Stuff for Plastics Manufacturing

May 19, 2016

Plastic manufacturing is an energy-intensive process. Now, research performed in part at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has revealed

NIST Kicks Off Effort to Defend Encrypted Data from Quantum Computer Threat

April 28, 2016

If an exotic quantum computer is invented that could break the codes we depend on to protect confidential electronic information, what will we do to maintain

NIST Could Help Keep Sequestered Carbon From Blowin' in the Wind

April 20, 2016

Capturing carbon dioxide gas and storing it underground is a promising strategy for reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Scientists at the National

new instrument for accelerometer testing

Precision Testing for MEMS Accelerometers

April 8, 2016

They activate airbags. Keep aircraft correctly positioned in flight. Detect earthquakes or sudden vibrations in failing machinery. Guide military hardware

For Rechargeable Batteries That Crush the Competition, Crush This Material

April 1, 2016

By chemically modifying and pulverizing a promising group of compounds, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have potentially

Improving CD-AFM Measurements from the Tip Down

March 31, 2016

As the sizes of computer chips in electronic devices continue to shrink, traditional measurement tools (e.g., microscopes utilizing visible light) are no longer

New NIST Security Standard Can Protect Credit Cards, Health Information

March 29, 2016

For many years, when you swiped your credit card, your number would be stored on the card reader, making encryption difficult to implement. Now, after nearly a

NIST Creates Fundamentally Accurate Quantum Thermometer

March 15, 2016

Better thermometers might be possible as a result of a discovery at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where physicists have found a way

New Tool for Breast Cancer Screening

March 14, 2016

A little over three years ago, NIST scientist Katy Keenan came back from a conference with an ambitious idea: to improve the quality of magnetic resonance

Getting Hyperspectral Imaging Ready for the Rain Forest

February 24, 2016

Hyperspectral images allow humans to see what otherwise might be invisible. Unlike ordinary cameras, which record information in each of three broad color bands

Better Accuracy Out of Thin (or Thick) Air

February 17, 2016

NIST scientists have devised and improved a prototype instrument the size of a loaf of bread that can substantially increase the accuracy of length measurements

Shedding Light on Dark Matter with SQUIDs

February 16, 2016

Perhaps fortunately, most folks haven't noticed that 85% of the Milky Way is missing: The kind of familiar, ordinary matter we know – made up of protons

Renovating Spaces and Preserving Places with Lasers

February 10, 2016

When you want to preserve a place or enhance a space, sometimes the best approach is to take a laser to it. Not a cosmetic surgeon's scalpel, or a sci-fi

Quantum Information Transfer: From Microwaves to Motion to Light

January 28, 2016

When a long-awaited quantum information network finally arrives, in whatever form, it will incorporate two essential technologies: a method of generating and

NIST Requests Comments on Computer Security Publication on Randomness

January 27, 2016

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking public comment on its latest draft of a publication intended to help computer security

HID Lamps: Getting Brighter Faster

January 6, 2016

NIST has been issued a patent for a novel method to improve the performance and utility of the sort of high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps used for stadium and

black and white image that looks like a dust bunny

Mixing Modern Materials? NIST Math App Helps You Manage Your Mashup

December 22, 2015

Imagine you're baking a special cake, one in which the shape of each mote of spice mixed into the batter can have a profound effect on your dessert's color, its

'Squeezed' Motion in a Massive Object

December 22, 2015

Everyone expects objects at the atomic scale to follow the weird rules of quantum mechanics. But in the past few years, scientists at NIST and elsewhere have

NIST's Cryogenic Flow Measurement Facility at Boulder, CO

The Once and Future Cryogenic Flow Facility

December 14, 2015

As recently as a few months ago, somebody who needed an internationally recognized calibration for a flow meter that operates with very low-temperature fluids

Seeing Into Cells More Clearly

December 7, 2015

NIST scientists, with collaborators at the University of Michigan, have designed and demonstrated a new and easily tunable, high-contrast scattering agent for

Measuring Smokestack Emissions Accurately

November 23, 2015

Society is increasingly concerned about exactly how much carbon dioxide and other pollutants are coming out of smokestacks. But current measurements are clouded

RFPs: The Best and the Brightest

November 20, 2015

How, precisely, does disease begin and progress in a single cell? To fully understand such processes on the smallest scales, scientists need a way to peer deep

NIST Process Expands Catalyst Options for Electrolysis and Fuel Cells

November 19, 2015

Remember that pair of gold electroplated earrings you bought years ago at the mall? (Oh yes, you do.) Key to crafting their allure was the ability to place an

NIST Takes (Some of) the Stress Out of Engineering New Materials

November 13, 2015

Stress: What does it feel like to you? Maybe like pressure from multiple directions, trying to push and pull and twist you all at once? If so, you've described