Content by NIST
Laser Frequency Comb on a Chip NIST’s compact laser frequency comb could go places
Mon, 10/31/2011 - 11:54
During the past decade, laser frequency combs—extraordinarily precise tools for measuring frequencies (or colors) of light—have helped propel advances in timekeeping, trace-gas detection, and related physics research. Although typical lasers…
Baldrige Award Recipient Hospitals Significantly Outperform Their Peers Recipients six times more likely to be counted among 100 Top Hospitals
Fri, 10/28/2011 - 12:23
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- A new report has found that health care organizations that have won Baldrige National Quality Awards for performance excellence or been considered for a Baldrige Award site visit outperform other hospitals in nearly…
NIST Congratulates Colleague on Nobel Chemistry Prize Dan Shechtman’s research and persistence completely changed the thinking of scientists
Mon, 10/17/2011 - 12:25
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) colleagues of Dan Shechtman, Ph.D., joined others in the scientific community in congratulating him on winning the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Shechtman made his astonishing discovery of a…
Baldrige Book Helps Organizations Gain 20/20 Foresight Why read it? Because 20/20 hindsight is easy but 20/20 foresight is not.
Mon, 10/03/2011 - 11:56
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- While most of us would say that hindsight is 20/20, the folks at the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program believe just the opposite for organizations that want to survive and thrive now and for years to come. To…
Metric Week Begins Oct. 9, 2011 A reminder of the system’s importance in commerce and STEM careers
Mon, 10/03/2011 - 11:38
Counting the seconds until Metric Week (Oct. 9–15, 2011) begins? That’s the spirit! Seconds are the metric unit of time. You also could figure your distance in meters (the metric unit of length) from the National Institute of Standards and…
U.S., Europe Collaborating on Smart Grid Standards Development Plan is to ease renewable energy sources, electric vehicles into the power system
Wed, 09/21/2011 - 09:00
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the European Union's (EU) Smart Grid Coordination Group (SG-CG) jointly announced their intention to work together on smart grid…
Researchers Expand Capabilities of Miniature Analyzer for Complex Samples Microfluidic system, electrophoresis, and pressure-driven flow isolate components
Fri, 09/02/2011 - 10:44
It’s not often that someone can claim that going from a positive to a negative is a step forward, but that’s the case for a team of scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and private industry. In a recent paper…
Survey of Baldrige Examiners Reveals Current Perceptions of Performance “Are We Making Progress?” helps focus on improvement and communication efforts
Tue, 08/30/2011 - 11:49
Management and nonmanagement personnel across a broad cross-section of U.S. organizations see eye to eye on mission, customer focus, and commitment to success but differ significantly in their views on how to best measure quality of work and…
Quantifying Greenhouse Gases The measurement challenge
Wed, 08/17/2011 - 12:33
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- The continuing increase in the level of carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse gases” in the Earth’s atmosphere has been identified as a cause for serious concern because it may radically accelerate changes in the Earth’…
DNA Strands That Select Nanotubes: A Step Toward Quantum Wires ‘Armchair’ carbon nanotubes could revolutionize electric power systems
Wed, 08/03/2011 - 14:03
DNA, a molecule famous for storing the genetic blueprints for all living things, can do other things as well. In a paper due to be published in the Journal of American Chemical Society, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and…