National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

It’s a g’day to be in Australia! NIST’s Carol Johnson, recently traveled to the west coast of Australia to deploy a new ocean color sensor buoy known as MarONet.       Phytoplankton are the basis of ocean life and can tell us a lot about climate change. The pigments in these plants support photosynthesis and can be measured by observing the ocean's color, which becomes greener when more phytoplankton are present. Satellites can detect these colors from space, but determining the exact amounts requires carefully calibrated ocean-based sensors.      NIST’s specialized calibration system will serve as the primary reference for processing MarONet's data and integrating it into NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission.      MarONet is preceded by its “sibling” sensor, MOBY, which is located off the coast of Lanai, Hawaii. With MOBY collecting data for the northern hemisphere and MarONet collecting data for the southern hemisphere, these two sensors achieve a more comprehensive view of ocean color worldwide, providing insights into global ocean ecosystems and their impacts on climate.      #Ocean #Climate #ClimateChange 

Solar power is one of the cornerstones of renewable energy. Behrang Hamadani heads up NIST’s photovoltaic research team and is working to make solar panels more efficient and reliable by developing accurate ways to measure them.    Out in the wild, sunlight comes in a wide variety of angles and conditions. So to accurately measure solar cell efficiency, Behrang uses an artificial, standard Sun. This is basically a flashbulb that carefully matches the characteristic light of the Sun, in short bursts, on demand, over and over again.    Using the standard Sun and other carefully developed measurement techniques, his team calibrates special solar cells that manufacturers can compare their products to. These “standard reference instruments” (SRIs) ensure that a manufacturer’s solar panels are measured correctly. “SRIs are our lab’s bread and butter,” says Behrang.    Behrang’s lab has recently started making a new SRI for solar cells made from gallium arsenide, a technology that has captured the attention of the space industry. Solar cells made from gallium arsenide are more efficient than other types of solar cells, so they make sense for space technology where we want to harness large quantities of power using as little weight as possible. Without an SRI, it would be impossible to run quality control tests on these solar panels, where a small inaccuracy could mean the difference between success and failure.    “Solar” means Sun, so if the light comes from somewhere else like a lightbulb, they are no longer called solar and are instead called the generic term “photovoltaic,” which means something that uses light to produce electricity.    Indoor photovoltaics (IPV) is one of Behrang’s major areas of new research. If you’re of a certain age, you might remember some calculators used to be powered by little built-in photovoltaic cells that worked using sunlight or ambient indoor light. The technology never spread far beyond calculators because they could only convert 2%-3% of light energy into electric power. Just enough to power a calculator, but not much more than that.    Modern IPV panels are at least 10 times more efficient than those early calculator cells, opening the door for more ways to use them. This is a new area of research, so it hasn’t found its way into many products yet, but early applications include wireless keyboards, temperature sensors and portable batteries for cellphones. Behrang’s lab is advancing this technology by studying how much energy you can expect to get from an IPVs under different artificial lighting conditions. Thanks in part to his research, you may start seeing solar cells in new, unexpected places.    Learn more about Behrang’s lab here:  https://lnkd.in/dehpyDBB  

Can a house make more energy than it uses?     To answer that question, NIST scientists and colleagues built a house and packed it with solar panels, advanced insulation and energy-efficient appliances. They also programmed four virtual “residents” who cooked, cleaned, watched TV and lived like a typical American family.     The answer to the question was a resounding yes. The NIST team ran two year-long experiments, and both times, the house produced all the energy its "family" needed and then some.     That was just the beginning of the net-zero house’s contributions to building science. NIST scientists have since used their unique house to study indoor air quality, water quality and more.     As the country strives to reduce the carbon footprint of houses and other buildings, NIST’s findings have become more vital than ever.     Learn more: https://lnkd.in/e9w-mjKy   #Energy #Efficiency #NetZero #Building 

For millennia, people used the rotation of the Earth to mark time, and our planet served as a sort of master clock. Today, we use atomic clocks to keep time across the globe.   This modern way of keeping time depends on pure, unchanging frequencies hidden inside atoms.   Microwaves at a particular frequency cause an electron inside an atom to make a jump between two quantum energy states.   The clocks that NIST and other metrology labs use to produce official time are essentially fancy devices built to measure the microwave frequency that’s most likely to trigger this quantum jump.   Take a minute (or longer!) to learn more about how we keep time across the globe in our latest Taking Measure blog post: https://lnkd.in/eE9nEFSk #Time #Quantum #Physics

There’s still time to apply! Check out our latest roundup of position openings at NIST: Supervisory Physical Scientist, Director of the Office of International and Academic Affairs: https://lnkd.in/eVY-4M-6 Engineering Technician: https://lnkd.in/eJQ9U4X9 Biologist: https://lnkd.in/giKNUca4 Air Conditioning Mechanic: https://lnkd.in/etiRpX49 CORE College Intern: https://lnkd.in/euqR3dS9 Browse our full listing of current openings at NIST: https://lnkd.in/d6KBevq   #NISTjob #JobOpening #JobOpportunities

We tricked you yesterday! If you thought you weren't getting an October edition of Tech Beat, consider this your belated treat!

This is NIST’s 3D concrete printer – it’s currently testing a mixture with polymer fibers embedded in the cement to make it stronger.   3D-printed concrete has a lot of potential, but it's unlike any other kind of construction and doesn’t easily fit into current building regulations. Before it can be widely used, new standards need to be developed to ensure that it’s safe. NIST is working to develop standards that would enable this new industry to thrive.   #3Dprinting #Construction #BuildingConstruction #AdditiveManufacturing

A future of quantum computing might sound scary, but NIST is already preparing for the cryptography threats that come next.   Stay informed! We break down the topic of post-quantum cryptography in this explainer: https://lnkd.in/dwDAfRs7   #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth #Cybersecurity #Cryptography #QuantumComputing

NIST’s Cherilyn Pascoe and the Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) Standards project team have been selected as winners of the 2024 CyberScoop 50 Awards. The winners were chosen in recognition of their work protecting vital networks, critical infrastructure, and information. Cherilyn was recognized in the Government Leadership category, which honors “transformational cybersecurity leaders who implement new strategies, technologies and programs to help all levels of government function in smarter ways.” NIST’s PQC project received an Innovation of the Year award, which “spotlights initiatives, new technologies or novel approaches that promise to improve how governments, industries, or the public at large approach cybersecurity.” Congratulations to all the winners! Learn more about all the awards here: https://lnkd.in/eRaSJkmC Scoop News Group #Cybersecurity #Cryptography

In 1976, John Lyons, who led NIST’s fire research, set an ambitious goal of reducing fire deaths by half within a generation. This was the fire equivalent of the race to the moon.    But And thanks to government efforts, responsive product manufacturing and societal change, the U.S. met that goal. Today, fire deaths still hover around half that number while the U.S. population has increased.    During those decades, NIST research helped contributed to making the country safer from deadly fires, including research on less fire-prone cigarettes and helping communities prepare for dangerous wildfires.    Learn more in our latest Taking Measure blog post: https://lnkd.in/gRtNHTnR   #FireSafety #Fire #FireProtection #Safety