Fire

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

A Christmas tree is engulfed in flames. To the left is a chair. In front is a coffee table, rug and fishbowl. To the right is a tall bookshelf. There are 3 wrapped presents under the tree. A timer reads 8:04 seconds.

Safety Moon Shot: How Fire Research Cut Deaths by Half in a Generation

October 29, 2024

NIST research helped make the smoke alarm a standard part of our homes, and it’s one of many ways our fire research has made everyone safer.

The Sound of Soot: How a Strange Noise Can Keep Us Safer From Fires

March 27, 2024

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Where there’s fire, there is soot. And where there is soot, there is … noise.

A couch is in flames in a mocked-up room inside a large fire testing facility.

Saving Lives by Making Upholstered Furniture More Resistant to Fire

February 9, 2022

Fires that begin on upholstered furniture such as sofas are the leading cause of home fire fatalities in the United States, accounting for about 600 deaths per

A white telescope dish is surrounded by wooded mountains in autumn colors.

In Case You Missed It From NIST: 2021 Edition

December 21, 2021

While the pandemic still grips the world, researchers at NIST continue their work on COVID-19 related research, as well as the wide range of other science and

Inside the Towers on 9/11: My Story of Investigating the WTC Evacuation

September 3, 2021

The kickoff meeting On Nov. 1, 2002, in a small conference room on the Gaithersburg, Maryland, campus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology

20 Years Later: NIST's World Trade Center Investigation and Its Legacy

August 18, 2021

The collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC) buildings following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was one of the worst-ever building disasters in

Reconstructing the Fires That Brought Down WTC 1, 2 and 7

September 8, 2021

Everyone has a story about where they were when they heard about the disaster universally called “9/11.” Mine begins in Ottawa, Canada. As chance would have it

Passing Photons Through Chicken, VR for First Responders, and 3D-Printed Metal: A Sample of Stories on NIST Social Media

June 9, 2021

Sending “spooky” pairs of photons through biological materials, using virtual reality to test emergency communications technology, bolstering confidence in the

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

The New NIST Fire Calorimetry Database Is Available to Answer Your Burning Questions

December 16, 2020

Several centuries ago, scientists discovered oxygen while experimenting with combustion and flames. One scientist called it “fire air.” Today, at the National

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

Knocking Down Fences for Fire Research

November 18, 2020

Wildfires don’t stop where the wilderness ends. They burn through communities and neighborhoods, destroying property and taking lives. In 2018, the California

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

Rescuing Our History from the Ashes

November 6, 2018

What strikes terror in the hearts of museum curators everywhere? Budget cuts, surely. But worse yet, the prospect of precious, irreplaceable relics being

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 line of cars with fire and smoke nearby

Fighting Fire with Fire-Breathing Dragons

June 22, 2016

I’m a dragon wrangler. While that might sound like something straight out of Harry Potter or Game of Thrones, this isn’t fantasy, this is serious science. As a

Chemical Detective Hot on the Vapor Trail

April 20, 2016

Today in Taking Measure we asked Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) recipient Tara Lovestead a few questions about her life

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