This has been a fun week for us at Quality Digest, as we’ve had a chance to support World Metrology Week and one of our long-standing partners, the Coordinate Metrology Society (CMS).  As many of you know, the CMS is the organization behind the annual Coordinate Metrology Systems Conference (CMSC), which convenes again this July in fabulous New Orleans.

The cold, stark landscape of Antarctica is home to penguins, ice, high winds, and two antennae owned by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the independent federal agency that supports and funds all fields of fundamental science and engineering in the United States. The severe conditions of the coldest place on earth might deter those faint of heart. But this is a genuine account of man and instrument going where no others dare to tread.

Any data captured in the scanning process is not perfect. Data accuracy depends on the accuracy of the scanning equipment as well as the conditions under which the measurements are made. To properly report measured data, the error associated with the measurement should be taken into account.

At the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, the highlight of its Egyptian galleries is an elaborate and complete funerary assemblage from the tomb of a 2,300-year-old noblewoman named Meret-it-es. The initial room layout of the Egyptian galleries revealed the space would be optimized if the coffin was displayed in an upright position, as opposed to a horizontal position. The 2,300-year-old coffin is made out of wood and has several layers of paint on its surface.

SolarReserve’s first-generation solar power plant is a welcome sign of green progress. Once the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project is completed in 2013, it will generate roughly 480,000 megawatt hours per year of clean, renewable electricity to power 75,000 homes during peak electricity periods.

The Frederic Remington Museum is dedicated to displaying, observing, and preserving the works of Frederic Remington. Most famous for his bronze sculptures of cowboys, American Indians, and U.S. Calvary, original Remington pieces are considered prized collector’s items.

Taking advantage of the force generated by magnetic repulsion, researchers have developed a new technique for measuring the adhesion strength between thin films of materials used in microelectronic devices, photovoltaic cells, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).

The fixtureless and noncontact technique, known as the magnetically actuated peel test (MAPT), could help ensure the long-term reliability of electronic devices, and assist designers in improving resistance to thermal and mechanical stresses.

During the past 18 months, Seatronics, an Acteon company, along with Technip, Star Net Geomantics, and BlueView Technologies, have been developing the BlueView 3D system for underwater metrology. The system combines terrestrial laser and underwater, 3-D multibeam sonar-scanning technology to provide a unique and innovative solution to complex subsea metrology operations.

In the manufacturing and assembly world, tightening, controlling, or measuring torque fasteners is imperative for production efficiency. An inadequately torqued fastener can vibrate or work loose; conversely, if the tension is too high, the fastener can snap or strip its threads. Faced with these problems, manufacturers are realizing that precise torque control can spell the difference between a safe, reliable, and economical product and complete disaster.

Organic solar cells may be a step closer to market because of measurements taken at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), where a team of scientists has developed a better fundamental understanding of how to optimize the cells’ performance, according to the article, “Photoexcitation Dynamics in Films of C₆₀ and Zn-Phthalocyanine with a Layered Nanostructure,” published Feb.