Environment

From Safer Skies to Fewer Fires: 10 Ways NIST Impacts Your Daily Life

December 19, 2024

If you’ve ever had a medical test, flown on an airplane, or needed to check the time, NIST’s work affects your life every day.

Esther Baumann leans over a lab table, surrounded with wires and scientific equipment.

A Laser Could Offer a Peek Into the Insides of Our Muscles or Look Through Fire

November 20, 2024

A NIST-developed laser system might someday check your muscle health when you flex your arm. These lasers can also see how an object changes during heat

Line drawing labeled "Industrial Symbiosis" shows a circle of arrows over a factory with smokestacks and a cooling tower with a leaf design.

Nature’s Lessons: Creating a Greener Future for Manufacturing

November 13, 2024

What if one manufacturer’s trash could be another’s treasure? A NIST researcher looks to nature for answers to this question.

Two men sit at a table in a lab, facing each other and smiling as they talk and gesture toward their computer screens.

Can Nanotechnology Help Solve Climate Change?

October 9, 2024

When we think about the climate crisis, we tend to think big. But two NIST researchers are thinking of small ways to help our planet — as in technology 1,000

Four people sitting outside on a green tarp wear eclipse glasses as they peer up into the sky.

NIST Researchers Measure Greenhouse Gases During the Solar Eclipse

June 5, 2024

Check out some of the things happening at NIST during the past few months through the lens of social media.

NIST Research Is Setting the Standard to Help Buildings Withstand Tornadoes

May 8, 2024

Two NIST researchers have been recognized for their work to create new standards for buildings that can better withstand tornadoes.

Brad Sutliff wears safety glasses as he stands in the lab in front of a computer monitor.

From Trash to Cash: How AI and Machine Learning Can Help Make Recycling Less Expensive for Local Governments

May 15, 2024

Can AI help us recycle better? A NIST researcher is working to make that happen.

Samuel Márquez Gonzalez leans forward to look through a microscope in the lab.

From Pokémon to Physics: My Journey of Perseverance Into Research

February 14, 2024

A childhood love of video games led Samuel Márquez Gonzalez to a career in science and a NIST internship program for early career researchers.

A small orange is packaged in a plastic container with a lid.

A Polymer Scientist Wrestles — Literally and Figuratively — With the Frustrations of Plastic Packaging

January 24, 2024

If you’ve resolved to be a more eco-conscious consumer this year, learn about how NIST’s circular economy lead thinks about plastic packaging in our everyday

Diana Ortiz-Montalvo, wearing safety glasses and holding a small circular filter with tweezers, poses with Abigail Lindstrom in the lab.

Microplastics Mystery: Sampling Airborne Microplastics at a Recycling Facility

October 11, 2023

During National Hispanic Heritage Month, a NIST researcher shares how her upbringing in Puerto Rico inspired her to study air quality.

A large white balloon with a small box attached to it waits inside a cinderblock building with a rolltop door.

Up, Up and Away: How NIST Research Helped Improve Weather Balloon Forecasting

September 27, 2023

A key component of the weather balloon — which helps meteorologists forecast the weather every day — was developed at NIST in the 1930s.

My Lab Helps People Breathe Easier All Over the World

July 19, 2023

My lab here in Gaithersburg, Maryland, helps agencies all over the world track their pollution levels by measuring them accurately.

We Need a Second Earth to Support Our Current Consumption. We Can Do Better if We Think ‘Circular.’

April 19, 2023

If we’re going to secure a sustainable future on the only planet we have to live on, we must transition to a circular economy, where we keep material in use

Two women in hiking gear stands at the top of a canyon, which is in the background.

Speeding Up Carbon Capture: A Q&A With NIST Scientist Pamela Chu

August 24, 2022

She explains what NIST is doing to speed up the chemical reactions — and the innovations — that might help slow down climate change.

Building in a Changing Climate: A Q&A With NIST’s Joannie Chin

July 27, 2022

The director of NIST’s Engineering Laboratory discusses the role of buildings in creating and mitigating climate change.

Yellowish blades of kelp are growing under the surface of the water.

Improving Recycling, Tracking Mercury and Analyzing Kelp: A Sample of Eco-Friendly Research Featured on NIST Social Media

June 15, 2022

Preserving our planet's health is no small feat, and NIST researchers are tackling the challenge from multiple angles.

Detecting Methane Gas Leaks and Other Pollutants Using Frequency Combs: A Q&A With Sammie Finalists

May 4, 2022

The list of what is polluting our atmosphere and contributing to global warming is long and varied. And if we want to solve this problem, being able to

Your Old Clothes Can Come Full Circle With Textile Recycling

May 9, 2022

When NIST hosted the Facilitating a Circular Economy for Textiles workshop last fall, I learned that all unwanted textile products should be donated or recycled

Waste Not, Want Not: The ‘Circular Economy’ Gives NIST New Opportunities to Help Create a More Environmentally Sound Future

April 22, 2022

Our program should enable technological solutions that can be scaled up from individual molecules to entire industries across the whole supply chain.

Taking Measure

Environment

From Safer Skies to Fewer Fires: 10 Ways NIST Impacts Your Daily Life

A Laser Could Offer a Peek Into the Insides of Our Muscles or Look Through Fire

Nature’s Lessons: Creating a Greener Future for Manufacturing

Can Nanotechnology Help Solve Climate Change?

NIST Researchers Measure Greenhouse Gases During the Solar Eclipse

NIST Research Is Setting the Standard to Help Buildings Withstand Tornadoes

From Trash to Cash: How AI and Machine Learning Can Help Make Recycling Less Expensive for Local Governments

From Pokémon to Physics: My Journey of Perseverance Into Research

A Polymer Scientist Wrestles — Literally and Figuratively — With the Frustrations of Plastic Packaging

Microplastics Mystery: Sampling Airborne Microplastics at a Recycling Facility

Up, Up and Away: How NIST Research Helped Improve Weather Balloon Forecasting

My Lab Helps People Breathe Easier All Over the World

We Need a Second Earth to Support Our Current Consumption. We Can Do Better if We Think ‘Circular.’

Speeding Up Carbon Capture: A Q&A With NIST Scientist Pamela Chu

Building in a Changing Climate: A Q&A With NIST’s Joannie Chin

Improving Recycling, Tracking Mercury and Analyzing Kelp: A Sample of Eco-Friendly Research Featured on NIST Social Media

Detecting Methane Gas Leaks and Other Pollutants Using Frequency Combs: A Q&A With Sammie Finalists

Your Old Clothes Can Come Full Circle With Textile Recycling

Waste Not, Want Not: The ‘Circular Economy’ Gives NIST New Opportunities to Help Create a More Environmentally Sound Future

In a Changing Climate, Resilience Research Can Help Communities ‘Make Decisions for a Better Future’

In Case You Missed It From NIST: 2021 Edition

Finding the STAMP of Human-Made Pollutants in Seabird Eggs

Making Measurements With a Fine-Toothed Comb

Fundamental Constants Are the Future of Measurement. Can They Replace Artifacts for Measuring Isotopes?

Monitoring the Oceans’ Color for Clues to Climate Change

The NIST Summer Undergraduate Fellowship Program Goes Virtual

Sustainable Manufacturing Is Smart Manufacturing

Tracking Hormones on Land and at Sea

A Bird’s Eye View: Finding New Ways to Track Synthetic Chemicals in the Environment

How Can NIST Help: Collaborating at a Distance to Defeat COVID-19

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