NIST Test House Exceeds GoalEnds year with energy to spare
Wed, 07/09/2014 - 11:37
The net-zero energy test house at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in suburban Washington, D.C., not only absorbed winter’s best shot, it also came out on top, reaching its one-year anniversary on July 1, 2014, with enough… Snowballs to Soot Is packing density standard?
Mon, 06/30/2014 - 13:55
Particles of soot floating through the air and comets hurtling through space have at least one thing in common: 0.36. That, reports a research group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is the measure of how dense they will… New Members Appointed to Baldrige Advisory BoardMeet the new members
Tue, 06/24/2014 - 12:15
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker recently reappointed Rulon Stacey as chair of the Baldrige Program’s Board of Overseers. She also appointed three new members to three-year terms and reappointed another member…
This FIB Doesn’t Lie NIST microscope sees what others can’t
Wed, 05/21/2014 - 16:50
Microscopes don’t exactly lie, but their limitations affect the truths they can tell. For example, scanning electron microscopes simply can’t see materials that don’t conduct electricity very well, and their high energies can actually damage some… No Compromises: JILA’s Short, Flexible, Reusable AFM ProbeWill benefit nanotechnology and studies of folding and stretching in biomolecules
Wed, 04/16/2014 - 18:01
JILA researchers have engineered a short, flexible, reusable probe for the atomic force microscope (AFM) that enables state-of-the-art precision and stability in picoscale force measurements. Shorter, softer, and more agile than standard and… Over Six Months, NIST Zero-Energy House Gives Back to the GridVirtual family of four on NIST campus also met its own energy needs
Thu, 03/20/2014 - 10:34
During the first six months in their special, new, four-bedroom home in suburban Maryland, the Nisters, a prototypical family of four, earned about $40 by exporting 328 kilowatt hours of electricity into the local grid, while meeting all of their… Perspective: Weights and Measures Week 2014Making sure the marketplace measures up
Wed, 02/26/2014 - 14:49
Every year, we hear scattered stories of inaccurate measures. Gas pumps, grocery scales, grocery scanners, incorrectly labeled products. Considering the many thousands of devices in the average inspector's jurisdiction, it's a testament to…
SIM Metrology School at NIST
Tue, 02/18/2014 - 15:32
They spanned 140 degrees of latitude—from Canada to Chile—and varied widely in age and experience. But their goal was the same: To improve their metrological capabilities for the benefit of their home countries and the Western Hemisphere.
For five… Nearly Everyone Uses PiezoelectricsBe nice to know how they work
Wed, 02/05/2014 - 12:56
Piezoelectrics—materials that can change mechanical stress to electricity and back again—are everywhere in modern life: computer hard drives, loud speakers, medical ultrasound, sonar. Although piezoelectrics are a widely used technology, there are… Rebuilding the Nation’s Aging InfrastructureNIST to showcase projects and technologies March 13–14, 2014, in Gaithersburg, MD
Wed, 02/05/2014 - 11:00
The next time you drive over a bone-jarring pothole, remember this: Since 2008, 73 million tax dollars have been invested in monitoring and inspection technologies for the nation’s aging infrastructure. Here’s the good part: They’re making a…