National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Happy Cybersecurity Awareness Month! Each October, NIST partners with other federal agencies to raise awareness about cybersecurity, ensuring all Americans have the resources they need to stay safer and more secure online. Explore our Cybersecurity Awareness Month resources and events: https://lnkd.in/gw9Dg5qJ

Planes, trains and automobiles all rely on something — and it isn’t Steve Martin. They use hydraulic systems, which harness pressurized fluid to transmit power. For example, a hydraulic system stops your car when you press on the brake pedal. These systems, which are also used in manufacturing, rely on a liquid called hydraulic fluid to function. But particles can contaminate the fluid and cause equipment failure, which is costly and disruptive to production lines. To help address this issue, a variety of industries — aerospace, automotive, manufacturing and gas — rely on a NIST standard reference material (SRM) called medium test dust in hydraulic fluid to calibrate devices to evaluate fluid cleanliness. The SRM consists of three bottles of liquid with medium-sized dust particles. The dust represents the size and type of contamination that industry encounters in its hydraulic systems. Manufacturers use devices called particle counters to monitor the dust in hydraulic fluid and ensure that equipment production lines are not contaminated. They use the SRM to calibrate these devices, which in turn makes sure their hydraulic systems are clean and working properly. #MFGDay26

Join us in congratulating NIST researcher Jun Ye, who was awarded the 2026 Wolf Prize in Physics! He shares the award with Immanuel F. Bloch of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics. The Wolf Foundation celebrates and promotes exceptional achievements in the sciences and the arts worldwide. Ye and Bloch were recognized for “transformative, widely applicable advances in the control of ultracold atomic systems.” Ye has been a physicist at JILA, a joint institute of NIST and the University of Colorado Boulder, for more than two decades. The clocks developed by Ye and his colleagues are so precise that they would neither gain nor lose one second in 15 billion years, roughly the age of the universe. Atomic clocks are crucial to GPS and advanced communications, but Ye’s clocks can extend the applications to make precision measurements of gravity, motion, magnetic fields and many other quantities based on tiny changes in the atoms’ “ticking” rate between two energy levels. His group has set multiple records for accuracy and precision in atomic clocks and has made numerous advancements in optical frequency combs and ultrafast laser-based tools.  Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eZXmTVXC

We’re not trying to throw our weight around here… but we’ve been in the business of education and training for more than 75 years. NIST held its first Weights and Measures School in 1948. Classes were focused on practical training, including work on actual weighing and measuring devices (as seen in image 1/2). (Side note: While our first class was in 1948, our weights and measures work can be traced back to 1836!) Today, NIST’s Office of Weights and Measures continues to offer in-person and online trainings, educating weights and measures inspectors from all 50 states and U.S. territories on key tasks that range from ensuring you get what you pay for at the pump to confirming that grocery scales are accurate. In-person classes take place in our Weights and Measures Lab (as seen in image 2/2).

On Sept. 23 and 24, 2026, NIST convened a two-day meeting of the National Construction Safety Team (NCST) Advisory Committee. NIST provided updates on the progress of its NCST investigations into the 2021 partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South building and the impacts of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico in 2017, as well as updates on NIST's Disaster and Failure Studies Program and implementation of recommendations that resulted from its investigation into the tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri, in 2011. Learn more:

Tokens have all but disappeared from public transportation, at least in their physical form. But small snippets of data called digital tokens have exploded in number, enabling online access to everything from your bank account to files in the cloud. NIST has issued its latest publication providing guidelines on protecting tokens from unauthorized access. NIST supports industry with publications on the latest important topics in cybersecurity, from zero trust architectures to smart speakers for home healthcare. Check out this and more in the latest edition of Tech Beat.

Collecting and analyzing DNA is a lot more complex than it appears on a crime show. So, when law enforcement needs a faster DNA result than they can get from a crime lab, they use Rapid DNA. A NIST researcher helps make sure Rapid DNA technology meets strict accuracy standards. During Forensic Science Week, learn more about NIST’s role in forensic science: https://lnkd.in/ep45FAfx

A NIST researcher created a product to help recycle textiles. But surprisingly, her work caught the attention of the forensic science community. That’s because forensic fiber examiners need to know the key details of fibers for their work, which might include matching a small fiber sample from a crime scene with a suspect’s article of clothing, for example. It’s one of many examples of advancements in forensic science that have come from unlikely areas of science, which we are celebrating during Forensic Science Week. Learn more in our latest Taking Measure blog post: https://lnkd.in/gTx_HjXU

Join us in congratulating Ed Sisco on being included in the Top 40 Under 40 Power List by the Analytical Scientist. This list celebrates analytical science’s rising stars – showcasing the personalities, passions, and pastimes of the individuals set to define the future of the field. Read more about Ed and his work: https://lnkd.in/eadM3tMZ

Near the top of a skyscraper, winds regularly blow at speeds over 100 miles per hour and can push on the building with hundreds of tons of force. Before any construction begins, engineers need to figure out how wind will push, pull and flow around their design so that a storm doesn’t damage the structure. The most accurate way to determine those wind forces within current building codes is to use a wind tunnel. Technicians build a small-scale version of the building, cover it in pressure sensors, then physically simulate wind with special fans. Wind tunnels work well, but they have some drawbacks. For example, it’s difficult to recreate unusual types of wind like downbursts from thunderstorms or chaotic hurricane updrafts. Until recently, it was impossible to make a computer simulation of the wind that was better than a wind tunnel. But that’s no longer true. Computers are now powerful enough to accurately calculate wind forces on buildings. This technique ultimately should reduce construction costs and help engineers understand how windstorms will affect their building in more detail. Partnering with the American Society of Civil Engineers, NIST has taken a major step forward for computational wind engineering by developing and publishing an early version of a standard called a prestandard. #StructuralEngineering #WindEngineering #BuildingDesign