NIST

Physicists at JILA, a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado at Boulder, have demonstrated a powerful new technique that reveals hidden properties of ultracold atomic gases.

To develop the new technique, the scientists borrowed an idea used for nearly a century in the study of materials: photoemission spectroscopy.

Ultracold Atomic Gases: A powerful new JILA technique reveals hidden properties of ultracold atoms in a superfluid, in which atoms form pairs like electrons in a superconductor. Graphic: C. Regal/JILAI    » read more »

May, 2008 -- Scientists at the University of Konstanz in Germany and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated an ultrafast laser that offers a record combination of high speed, short pulses and high average power. The same NIST group also has shown that this type of laser, when used as a frequency comb—an ultraprecise technique for measuring different colors of light—could boost the sensitivity of astronomical tools searching for other Earthlike planets as much as 100 fold.

NIST Frequency Comb, Ultrafast Laser: Photo M. Kirchner & S. Diddams/NIST    » read more »

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) fire protection engineers turned an abandoned New York City (NYC) brick high-rise into a seven-story fire laboratory last month to better understand the fast-moving spread of wind-driven flames, smoke and toxic gases through corridors and stairways of burning buildings.
NIST High-Rise Fire Test; Positive Pressure Ventilation Fans: Firefighters watch as a fan, simulating wind, changes airflow and smoke conditions during experiments in a seven-story high-rise abandoned apartment building on New York City's Governors Island. Photo: NIST    » read more »

Gaithersburg, Md., Feb. 26, 2008 — The Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is hosting the International Workshop on Documentary Standards for Measurement and Characterization in Nanotechnologies February 26-28. Leaders of international standards committees and measurement laboratories from around the world will exchange information to promote the emergence of high-quality, globally relevant international standards for nanotechnology.    » read more »

‘Crystal of Light’ Clock Surpasses Accuracy of NIST-F1 Fountain Clock

Feb. 14, 2008, BOULDER, Colo.— A next-generation atomic clock that tops previous records for accuracy in clocks based on neutral atoms has been demonstrated by physicists at JILA, a joint institute of the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado at Boulder. The new clock, based on thousands of strontium atoms trapped in grids of laser light, surpasses the accuracy of the current U.S. time standard based on a “fountain” of cesium atoms.    » read more »

June 29, 2007 -- A team of scientists and engineers at the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that is investigating the collapse of New York City's World Trade Center 7 (WTC 7) building expects to release its draft report for public comment by the end of the year. WTC 7 was a 47-story office building adjacent to the WTC towers (WTC 1 and 2) that collapsed following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. WTC 7 collapsed later that afternoon.    » read more »

Based on Recommendations from Commerce’s NIST World Trade Center Investigation

June 20, 2007 -- GAITHERSBURG, Md.—Safer buildings—especially tall structures—that are more resistant to fire and more easily evacuated in emergencies are the goal of the first comprehensive set of building code changes recently approved by the International Code Council (ICC) based on recommendations from the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).    » read more »