National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

NIST staff members work in just a few locations across the U.S., but our agency has had significant impacts in all 50 states. On our new NIST in Your State site, you can look up specific examples of how our agency serves your part of the country. Speaking of service, many NIST staff members were recognized for their contributions to our agency’s mission in our 52nd annual NIST awards ceremony. We welcome you to visit our awards ceremony page to read about the different projects for which NIST staff were acknowledged. #ScienceAndTechnology #Science #Technology #Newsletter

In an emergency, responders need to know where people are and if the building is structurally stable enough to attempt a rescue.   But timely information can be scarce during a natural disaster or other dangerous incident.   In many of these situations, sending an uncrewed aircraft system, also known as a drone, into a building can provide life-saving intelligence by capturing video footage, identifying potential hazards and mapping the inside of the building.   A NIST-sponsored competition is encouraging drone companies to build systems that can operate in challenging indoor environments during situations such as natural disasters.  Learn more in our latest Taking Measure blog post: https://lnkd.in/e5DAbjY4 #UAS #Drones #FireFighting 

Welcome to the acoustic anechoic chamber! What exactly is this space? A specialized room where NIST researchers can make acoustical measurements without an echo. All six sides (including top and bottom) of the room are covered in fiberglass wedges that absorb sound with the bottom floor covered by an additional layer of wires suspended a few feet in the air. This is where electroacoustic devices, such as microphones, loudspeakers and hearing aids, are measured. The room is surrounded by concrete walls that are 0.3 meters thick and sits on 52 coil springs to reduce vibrations from the outside. Because of these features, sound that is generated inside the room gets absorbed by the walls. There’s practically no echo or reverb down to 45 hertz and the wedges absorb 99 percent of the sound that hits them. Another aspect of the room design is that sound from outside stays outside (which explains how quiet it can get in here!). NIST researchers use this chamber for research towards developing documentary standards – official ways to specify test methods or procedures - for hearing aids. One example includes standardized procedures for measuring the directivity index, a parameter that is commonly used to characterize the performance of directional hearing aids. Researchers also provide data regarding the characteristics of these devices to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. #Sound #Measurements #SoundProof #Standards #Electroacoustic

What if we told you that NIST served as the nation’s first crime lab?   In 1913, NIST began supporting forensic science and functioning as the nation's de facto crime lab. NIST's Wilmer Souder became one of the nation's first federal forensic scientists. He was widely regarded as an expert in a number of forensic fields, such as ballistics, forgery, and materials analysis. Souder provided expert testimony in many cases. In 1932 he helped establish the FBI's crime lab and in 1935 his testimony on handwriting samples helped convict Richard Hauptmann in the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh’s son.   You can learn more about Souder and his efforts to bring precision measurement and rigorous standards to the field of forensic science at https://lnkd.in/eqScuRnx  #Forensics #History #CrimeLab

Did you know today is National Peanut Butter Day? Some people may not realize that NIST sells peanut butter! Yes, you read that correctly. NIST also sells a variety of other food products, such as baking chocolate and soy milk. However, these are not made for everyday grocery shoppers to purchase. NIST sells these “foods” to manufacturers to help measure their products’ nutritional values. The peanut butter is just one of NIST’s Standard Reference Material (SRMs). Food manufacturers use these SRMs to calibrate testing methods and equipment. If their measurements of NIST’s SRMs do not give them the values that we say they should, they know that something has gone wrong with their tests or equipment, and they have some adjustments or “calibrations” to make. When a company buys an SRM from NIST, they are really buying all the measurements and scientific expertise that went into determining its creation, as well as NIST’s level of certainty regarding those measurements. NIST sells some 1,300 SRMs that help a variety of industries make sure they are meeting industry standards to help ensure the safety and consistency of their products, among other characteristics. Learn more about SRMs from NIST: https://lnkd.in/ewyeCTvQ #NationalPeanutButterDay #FoodSafety #SRM

Consumer-level thermometers generally need to be tested and calibrated once they are created at the factory to ensure they are accurate. Thermometers for more demanding applications need additionally to be regularly calibrated either onsite or at a remote calibration facility, which can be time consuming and inconvenient.  Now, NIST has developed a new type of thermometer that doesn’t need to be calibrated because it relies on the basic principles of quantum physics. With its accuracy and sensitivity, it could improve temperature measurements in challenging environments ranging from spacecraft to advanced industrial manufacturing. The new thermometer uses atoms boosted to such high energy levels that they are a thousand times larger than normal. It measures temperature in its environment by monitoring how these giant “Rydberg” atoms interact with blackbody radiation, the heat emitted by surrounding objects. Rydberg thermometers can measure the temperature of their environment from about 0 to 100 degrees Celsius without needing to touch the object being measured. This breakthrough is particularly significant for atomic clocks because blackbody radiation can reduce their accuracy. Atomic clocks are exceptionally sensitive to temperature changes, including those caused by blackbody radiation, this creates small errors in their measurements. This new technology could help make atomic clocks even more accurate. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eickxHfR  #Quantum #Rydberg #Thermometers 

Today, we are taking a step back in time to look at a piece of history (or NISTory as we like to call it.) Everett L. Wallace, a chemist in the NIST Leather Research Section, developed a shoe testing machine in the 1930s to determine the wearing quality of shoes. The device accurately simulated human foot action on a shoe during walking and allowed researchers to adjust pressure to mimic different human weights. NIST employees engaged in leather research during periods ranging from 1919 to the early 1960s. After the outbreak of World War I, leather became scarce and the search for substitutes began. In the 1950s, NIST studied the pore structure and moisture content of leather as a function of humidity at different temperatures. The study was then extended to development of a new method for the determination of water-vapor permeability in leathers. While we may not focus on leather today, NIST continues to drive innovation and advance technology in a wide range of materials. #History #Innovation #Technology

Here at NIST, our researchers have their own sense of “fashion” when they’re walking into certain labs. Visitors to the NanoFab must wear special personal protective equipment to keep dirt, dust, fibers and hairs out of the cleanroom so they can conduct sensitive measurements at the nanoscale level. They suit up from head to toe before entering the lab. See one NISTer get in nanofabulous gear! #Nanotechnology #Nanoscience #Nanofabrication #Science #Research

Working at NIST is a ball! Check out our latest roundup of position openings at NIST:    Emergency Management Specialist: https://lnkd.in/ejHJC6dN Biologist: https://lnkd.in/eFiMm3xV Supervisory IT Specialist (AI): https://lnkd.in/eX8dQNjD Administrative Specialist: https://lnkd.in/etynbPjS  Mathematician: https://lnkd.in/er7D4pbd   Browse our full listing of current openings at NIST: https://lnkd.in/d6KBevq    #NISTjob #JobOpening #JobOpportunities 

It’s the beginning of the 2025 awards season, and we are kicking it off with the NIST Awards, which celebrate excellence in innovation, research, and the advancement of NIST’s mission.     A huge congratulations to the winners, whose passion and perseverance can inspire us all. Join us in celebrating these outstanding leaders!    To see the full list of awardees and their groundbreaking achievements, click here: https://lnkd.in/e_dtVd7h    #Leadership #Technology #Success