Advanced Communications

An antique clock showing a few minutes before 12 is topped with a party hat, and colorful streamers hang in the background.

Auld Lang ‘Time’: One of the Country’s Timekeepers Makes Sure We Ring in 2024 at Just the Right Second

December 28, 2023

As you prepare to watch the ball drop or pop champagne on New Year’s Eve, we’ll be keeping an eye on the clock — just as we always do.

A researcher wearing safety glasses reaches into a box of circuitry and other equipment, which emits a green glow.

Think You Know What a Second Is? It Will Likely Change in the Next Decade.

November 8, 2023

As the world has modernized and our pace of life has increased, our relationship to time has changed.

Being a Mom Helps Me Protect Our Communication Infrastructure

May 10, 2023

Jeanne Quimby's kids are the reason she came up with her team’s idea for how to detect cybersecurity events on our U.S. critical communication infrastructure.

Benchy the Boat, Irradiated Mangoes, Quantum Window: A Sample of Stories on NIST Social Media

May 31, 2023

NIST’s research can range from the complex to the downright whimsical, but all the papers published here can trace back to a benefit for everyone in the U.S.

On a rooftop overlooking a waterfront town, an equipment box is attached to a pole anchored with concrete blocks.

Data in Demand: How the U.S. Navy’s Bandwidth Can Boost Your Data Speed

January 25, 2023

What would we do if the world ran out of room in the radio-frequency spectrum? It’s something NIST and our partners are working to prevent through spectrum

Team image of ARCC at the NIST PSCR 2021 First Responder UAS 3.1: FastFind Stage 3 Live Demonstration

It Takes a (Worldwide) Village to Improve Drone Technology for First Responders

October 19, 2022

The research continues because the need continues.

A man modeling a safety helmet talks with two others standing behind a table in a conference hotel.

What Is $300 Million Worth? The Evolution of NIST’s Public Safety Research

April 27, 2022

I’m particularly proud that the $300 million enabled us to engage and recruit so many external partners from industry, academia and public safety.

NIST and the Titanic: How the Sinking of the Ship Improved Wireless Communications for Navigating the Sea

April 13, 2022

If you’ve seen the movie Titanic starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, then you’ve watched the star-crossed lovers’ untimely end and the tragic sinking

How 9/11 Changed Me and First Responder Communications

August 20, 2021

If you remember Sept. 11, 2001, that day is most likely imprinted on your mind like no other day. You remember what you were doing and who you were with. You

Supporting Mobile Public Safety Broadband Using Drone-Borne Networks

May 13, 2021

Working outside is always a highlight for me at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). It happens more often than you might think, and

The NIST Summer Undergraduate Fellowship Program Goes Virtual

February 2, 2021

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) designed the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program to inspire undergraduate students

Need Some Good News? NIST’s 2020 Highlights

December 22, 2020

2020 has been a challenging year, but we at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have worked as hard as we can to fulfill our mission for

How NIST Is Helping First Responders Stay Connected

January 6, 2021

What do first responders do? It’s an easy question, and I used to think I knew the answer. Firefighters put out fires; police officers enforce the law; EMS

Developing an Exposure Notification System to Blunt the Spread of COVID-19 and Future Pandemics

November 10, 2020

I am part of a grassroots effort at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that is developing an exposure notification system for pandemics

Zero Trust Cybersecurity: ‘Never Trust, Always Verify’

October 28, 2020

Huh? What? At least that was my response the first time I heard the words “zero trust” when I started working at the National Institute of Standards and

Keeping Time at NIST

June 23, 2020

Einstein is reported to have once said that time is what a clock measures. Some say that what we experience as time is really our experience of the phenomenon

When Standardized Data Can Help Save Lives

July 30, 2019

When you email a friend, you don’t have to worry about whether they use Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo or some other email provider. You just enter their email address

Mission Critical Voice Communications: Your Life May Depend on It!

June 18, 2019

Just about everyone knows someone who works in public safety. For me, I have two close family members who are first responders. My brother-in-law is a

Making Fighting Fires in Virtual Reality More Like Real Reality

December 20, 2018

It all started with a conversation at the dinner table with my Uncle Dale. Dale had worked at Boca Raton Fire Rescue for 36 years before retiring as a captain

Quantum Information Science: A Q&A With NIST's Carl Williams

September 25, 2018

Quantum information science will contribute to one of the next revolutions in computing, but realizing that promise will stretch our scientific understanding

Local Realism, Bell’s Inequality, and T-Shirts: An Entangled Tale

April 30, 2018

For this past Christmas my wife, Rebecca, gave me a T-shirt that says "Quantum mechanics: The dreams stuff is made of." This is an allusion to the book The

‘W’eird Signals: Listening in on the Eclipse

August 15, 2017

Two years ago, I had never heard of the WWVB radio station. Today, it’s one of my favorites, but that’s not because it broadcasts a pleasant mix of Top 40 hits

man standing in front of a white board filled with equations. Four other men sit around a table watching.

Quantum Information: Changing the Rules of the Game

August 2, 2017

I was a math researcher at the University of Michigan back in 2008 when I had the crazy—one could even say random—notion to shift from studying pure mathematics

Smoke Signals: Ensuring the Clarity of Emergency Communications

September 9, 2016

If you’ve ever used a device that picks up signals over the air, you know that sometimes you just can’t get the signal to come in clearly. You point the device

A “Certified” Stamp for the Smart Grid

May 26, 2016

When I go home after work, my wife and I are typically focused on the present moment, especially on our young son. As new parents, we benefit from many

Smart Cities: Bringing Tech Benefits Directly to You

March 25, 2016

Earlier this week at NIST, we brought together a diverse group of people who will have a profound influence on the future of our cities and the services

Taking Measure