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Taking Measure

Just a Standard Blog

Health

A researcher wearing safety gear kneels at the open door of a lab fridge, displaying a tray of samples.

Sinking Our Teeth Into Science: How Regenerative Medicine Can Help Make Us Healthier

September 4, 2024

From safer dental products to tracking the movement of tiny plastics through gut tissues, regenerative medicine can make us healthier.

You Don’t Learn This in School: My Experience as a NIST Summer Intern

July 10, 2024

The most important thing I remember from being a NIST intern last summer is the power of persistence in research.

NIST biomedical engineer Laurie Locascio places a water sample on a highly sensitive, inexpensive "lab-on-a-chip"

One of NIST’s Most Prolific Inventors Is Also Our Director — and She’s Still an Inventor at Heart

May 22, 2024

Before she was the director of NIST, Laurie E. Locascio invented materials that make us healthier.

Melinda Kleczynski poses sitting at her desk, with a monitor showing data and graphs behind her.

From Diamonds in Your Computer to Safer Medications, NIST Researchers Look at What’s Next for 2024 and Beyond

January 3, 2024

Our up-and-coming researchers look ahead to 2024 and beyond — and tell us how their work will impact the world.

Jerilyn Izac sits at a lab bench with her hands inside a plastic shield, using a device to draw liquid from a plastic container into a tube.

I’m Using Measurement Science to Test Antibodies and Protect Us From Viruses

November 29, 2023

Imagine if for the next dangerous virus, we could quickly and easily test everyone’s levels of defenses — known as antibodies.

Several metallic envelopes with NIST labels are displayed with Halloween decorations like cobwebs, skeletons and pumpkins.

There Will Be (Precisely Measured) Blood: A Haunted House Tour Through NIST’s Spookiest Reference Materials

October 27, 2023

This spooky season, join us for a haunted house tour of the scariest standard reference materials in our labs.

A medical worker wears gloves as she prepares to swab the nose of a female patient.

Measuring the Accuracy of PCR Tests Can Improve Health Care Beyond COVID-19

September 13, 2023

Many of us have taken a COVID-19 test. But, have you ever wondered, after your sample goes off to a lab, exactly how they arrive at a positive or negative

Miral Dizdaroglu wears safety glasses as he poses in the lab next to an open spectrometer, which looks a little like a microwave with extra buttons.

How We Studied DNA Damage in Cooked Food — and What It Might Mean for Our Health

September 20, 2023

When you eat plants or meat, you’re also eating a tiny amount of that plant or animal’s DNA. But what happens to that plant or animal DNA when you cook the food

Two people wearing coveralls in a "clean room" lab look up at a disk-shaped object that one of them is holding.

Agents of Contrast, Software Runaway Hit, Our Early Universe: A Sample of Stories on NIST Social Media

September 6, 2023

Curious? It’s time to get you caught up on a few of the summer happenings at NIST.

Protecting People From Plumbing Pathogens Is Personal to Me

August 16, 2023

Pathogens can get into our water through plumbing and are especially dangerous for people with compromised immune systems.

Grace Waters poses smiling in the lab, leaning against a desk with a computer monitor showing data and graphs.

A Summer of Science: NIST Interns’ Stories of Their Time in the Lab

August 2, 2023

From measuring UV light to working on virtual reality software, a summer at NIST is not your average internship.

Melissa Phillips, wearing safety glasses, poses leaning over an open chest freezer, holding a plastic bag of spinach.

Organic, Vegetarian or Carnivore: Whatever You Eat, My Lab Is Working to Keep It Safe

May 18, 2023

The levels of contaminants in our food supply are, generally, decreasing, but we still need to make sure our food is safe. And measuring tiny things (and big

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

NIST’s Researchers Look Ahead to High-Tech Trends in 2023 and Beyond

December 27, 2022

They study topics that impact all of us, from indoor air quality to cybersecurity.

Ming Zheng stands outside smiling and holding a model of a nanotube made of a lattice of smaller tubes.

To See Life in a Drop of Blood

July 13, 2022

A NIST researcher shares his excitement about the promise of a hybrid molecule that can detect disease.

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.

Historical photo shows two rows of women working at long tables.

New Jersey’s ‘Radium Girls’ and the NIST-Trained Scientist Who Came to Their Aid

March 16, 2022

Radiation expert and historian Bert Coursey, who has worked at NIST for 50 years, writes extensively on the history of radium and radiation standards. He

$Micrograph shows fractures appearing at junction of enamel and dentin.$

Teeth: From Materials Science to Dentistry and Evolutionary Biology

February 2, 2022

As a happily retired materials scientist from NIST, I have continued a long-standing interest in how materials deform and fracture under high stress. My

Clear glass "boxes" with tubes coming in and out

That’s a Wrap: Selects From the NIST Invent Calendar

January 5, 2022

We have a gift for you, packaged up in December 2021 and now ready to experience in full. Each day in December, the NIST Invent Calendar revealed innovations

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

Finding the STAMP of Human-Made Pollutants in Seabird Eggs

December 1, 2021

How can one deny the majesty of seabirds soaring over the ocean or diving underwater to capture prey? That said, collecting seabird eggs to preserve them to

$close up of a clear fractured glass like substance with some rainbow distortions$

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Taking Measure

Health

Sinking Our Teeth Into Science: How Regenerative Medicine Can Help Make Us Healthier

You Don’t Learn This in School: My Experience as a NIST Summer Intern

One of NIST’s Most Prolific Inventors Is Also Our Director — and She’s Still an Inventor at Heart

From Diamonds in Your Computer to Safer Medications, NIST Researchers Look at What’s Next for 2024 and Beyond

I’m Using Measurement Science to Test Antibodies and Protect Us From Viruses

There Will Be (Precisely Measured) Blood: A Haunted House Tour Through NIST’s Spookiest Reference Materials

Measuring the Accuracy of PCR Tests Can Improve Health Care Beyond COVID-19

How We Studied DNA Damage in Cooked Food — and What It Might Mean for Our Health

Agents of Contrast, Software Runaway Hit, Our Early Universe: A Sample of Stories on NIST Social Media

Protecting People From Plumbing Pathogens Is Personal to Me

A Summer of Science: NIST Interns’ Stories of Their Time in the Lab

Organic, Vegetarian or Carnivore: Whatever You Eat, My Lab Is Working to Keep It Safe

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

NIST’s Researchers Look Ahead to High-Tech Trends in 2023 and Beyond

To See Life in a Drop of Blood

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

New Jersey’s ‘Radium Girls’ and the NIST-Trained Scientist Who Came to Their Aid

Teeth: From Materials Science to Dentistry and Evolutionary Biology

That’s a Wrap: Selects From the NIST Invent Calendar

In Case You Missed It From NIST: 2021 Edition

Finding the STAMP of Human-Made Pollutants in Seabird Eggs

Clear as Glass: Studying Drug-Delivery Materials as a NIST SURF Student

Working to Improve Small-Scale MRIs: My Summer as a SURF Student at NIST

Making Measurements With a Fine-Toothed Comb

Eavesdropping on Hormones to Help Understand Reproduction

Creating a PFAS-Contaminated Meat SRM: A Q&A With NIST Chemists Melissa Phillips and Ben Place

Creating and Commercializing a Human ‘Body Cube’ for Testing New Drugs

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

NIST Lends a Hand to Hand-Sanitizer Manufacturers

RNA Structure and Dynamics: The One-Two Punch in the Fight Against COVID-19

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