More than a dozen chemical blends could serve as alternative refrigerants that won’t heat the atmosphere as much as today’s refrigerants do, or catch fire, according to a new computational study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The NIST study identified the 22 “best” nonflammable or marginally flammable blends with lower global warming…

On its surface, the work is deceptively simple: Shoot a high-power laser beam onto a piece of metal for a fraction of a second and see what happens. But researchers say the physics of laser welding is surprisingly complex. A better understanding of the interaction between laser and metal could give industry more control over…

What had been a peaceful and productive mission for the six men aboard the Russian space station Mir, including U.S. astronaut Jerry Linenger, nearly became a tragic nightmare during the evening of Feb. 24, 1997. A lithium-perchlorate canister, designed to generate oxygen via a chemical reaction, suddenly burst into flames when activated. Although the fire…

For the past three years, an important broker has had its eyes on a prime piece of property that it wants to allocate to multiple tenants to ensure maximum use. However, the “For Lease” sign isn’t on some quiet suburban street, along a beachfront vista, or any physical location at all. It’s posted in front…

Tiny pores at a cell’s entryway act as miniature bouncers, letting in some electrically charged atoms–ions–but blocking others. Operating as exquisitely sensitive filters, these ion channels play a critical role in biological functions such as muscle contraction and the firing of brain cells. To rapidly transport the right ions through the cell membrane, the tiny…

A marriage between 3-D printer plastic and a versatile material for detecting and storing gases could lead to inexpensive sensors and fuel cell batteries alike, suggests new research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The material is called a metal-organic framework, or MOF–perhaps not as familiar a substance as plastic, but one…

The first big case involving fingerprint evidence in the United States was the murder trial of Thomas Jennings in Chicago in 1911. Jennings had broken into a home in the middle of the night and, when discovered by the homeowner, shot the man dead. He was convicted based on fingerprints left at the crime scene,…

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have produced and precisely measured a spectrum of X-rays using a new, state-of-the-art machine. The instrument they used to measure the X-rays took 20 years to develop, and will help scientists working at the agency make some of the world’s most accurate measurements of materials for use…

We can create software with 100 times fewer vulnerabilities than we do today, according to computer scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). To get there, they recommend that coders adopt the approaches they have compiled in a new publication. The 60-page document, NIST Interagency Report (NISTIR) 8151: Dramatically Reducing Software Vulnerabilities…

By mimicking how dogs get their whiffs, a team of government and university researchers have demonstrated that “active sniffing” can improve by more than 10 times the performance of current technologies that rely on continuous suction to detect trace amounts of explosives and other contraband. “The dog is an active aerodynamic sampling system that literally…

Throwing a perfect strike in virtual bowling doesn’t require your gaming system to precisely track the position and orientation of your swinging arm. But if you’re operating a robotic forklift around a factory, manipulating a mechanical arm on an assembly line or guiding a remote-controlled laser scalpel inside a patient, the ability to pinpoint exactly…

To spur significant innovation and growth in advanced manufacturing, as well as save over $100 billion annually, U.S. industry must rectify currently unmet needs for measurement science and “proof-of-concept” demonstrations of emerging technologies. This is the overall conclusion reached by economic studies funded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of four advanced…

Researchers at the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have launched the Smart Manufacturing Systems (SMS) Test Bed. The test bed is an innovative model factory that will facilitate the advanced manufacturing technology known as the “digital thread” and help manufacturers cut costs, shorten production time, reduce errors and provide higher…

The Internet Time Service operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) serves much of the Earth, with customers from around the globe. In one month of study alone, just two of the 20 NIST servers that supply time information to Internet-connected devices received requests from 316 million unique Internet Protocol (IP) addresses,…

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has accurately measured parts designed for the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, the long-awaited successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The NIST-measured composite titanium and stainless steel parts, which support the skeleton for the telescope’s massive mirror, will be used in the final round of NASA’s vibration…

In the nanoworld, tiny particles of gold can operate like snow blowers, churning through surface layers of an important class of semiconductors to dig unerringly straight paths. The surprising trenching capability, reported by scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and IBM, is an important addition to the toolkit of nature-supplied ‘self-assembly’…

Criminal justice, cosmology and computer manufacturing may not look to have much in common, but these and many other disparate fields all depend on sensitive measurements of X-rays. Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new method* to reduce uncertainty in X-ray wavelength measurement that could provide improvements awaited…

The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced the award of new cooperative agreements to 10 nonprofit organizations and universities to manage Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) centers. NIST’s MEP program helps small- and mid-size manufacturers create and retain jobs, increase profits and save time and money. In an open…

LED lights are notably cool. But as an industry sector, solid-state lighting (SSL) keeps heating up, with demand growing rapidly in residential, commercial, and other applications, and new models continually coming to market. As a result, it is increasingly important for manufacturers and test labs to be able to accurately measure the properties of the…

The NFL, GE, and Under Armour, have announced that they have joined with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to launch Head Health Challenge III, an open innovation competition to advance materials that better absorb or dissipate energy. READ: Eye-Tracking Tech Detects Concussions & Severity These new materials could…

For the first time in half a century, NIST’s 4.45-million newton (equivalent to one million pounds-force) deadweight machine – the largest in the world – is being disassembled for cleaning, restoration, and recalibration. The first stage of the process, dismantling the top half of the three-story stack of weights, is now complete and the individual…

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers and their industrial partners aim to add a new dimension to manufacturing capabilities. In a new project, they will demonstrate the feasibility — and benchmark the advantages — of using standardized, three-dimensional (3D) models for electronically exchanging and processing product and manufacturing information all the way from…

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers have earned a 2014 GCN Award for Information Technology Excellence for speeding development and delivery of secure, battlefield-handy—and sometimes lifesaving—smartphone apps to U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The four-year NIST effort included distilling soldiers’ needs into app requirements, evaluating app performance, and designing a unique smartphone security architecture.…

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated a pas de deux of atomic ions that combines the fine choreography of dance with precise individual control. NIST’s ion duet, described in the August 7 issue of Nature, is a component for a flexible quantum simulator that could be scaled up in…

Boulder, CO — Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated a pas de deux of atomic ions that combines the fine choreography of dance with precise individual control. NIST’s ion duet, described in the August 7 issue of Nature, is a component for a flexible quantum simulator that could be…