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Facilities
More Cold Neutrons
on Tap at Upgraded NIST Center
Following
a six-month shutdown, the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR)
is back in business, featuring improvements that will benefit studies
by the more than 1,700 scientists who use the national facility annually.
The top facility of its kind in the country, the NCNR has successfully
developed advanced cooling technology that nearly doubles the number
of very-long-wavelength neutrons available for experiments on objects
such as fuel cells, cell membranes, superconductors and nanotubes.
In
all, 21 sophisticated instruments use the centers neutron beams
for studies that may run non-stop, 24 hours a day. In most, the immediate
interest is how the electrically neutral particlesliberated
from the nuclei of atomsinteract with samples. By tracking neutrons
that scatter after hitting samples, researchers discern positions
of individual atoms. They also learn about the dynamics of atoms and
molecules and the details of chemical reactions. Such information
can elude other types of probes.
The
almost-doubled intensity of cold neutron beams is especially good
news for researchers who study very large molecules, such as cell
membrane proteins and nano materials. The new cold source optimizes
the process for chilling neutrons, increasing the supply and probing
power of the beams.
Last
year, experiments conducted at the NCNR involved researchers representing
more than 100 U.S. universities, 50 US industrial laboratories, and
over 30 government laboratories. Since 1990, the number of researchers
who use the NIST center has nearly quadrupled.
The
Presidents fiscal year 2003 budget request includes a $6 million
initiative to fund further expansion of the NCNR.
For
more information on the NCNR, contact Hank Prask, (301) 975-6226,
hprask@nist.gov. To learn about
a newly begun project to build the nations first neutron research
station dedicated to cell biology, go to www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/n02-02.htm
and www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/neutrons.htm.
Media
Contact:
Mark
Bello, (301) 975-3776
Building Research
Shopping Mall
Burn Examines Structural Vibrations
Death
and injury from collapsing walls or falling roofs are occupational
hazards for firefighters and rescue workers. Vibration sensors that
give early warning to building collapse could cut such risks significantly.
Fire engineers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) and NIST-grantee Harvey Mudd College (Claremont, Calif.) tested
the ability of highly sensitive motion detectors to detect pre-collapse
building vibrations from May 8-10, 2002, at an abandoned shopping
mall in Woodbridge, Va. The controlled fire tests examined the vibration
characteristics of lightweight steel frame building construction,
during fires large enough to cause collapse of steel deck roofs.
Previously, NIST
and Harvey Mudd researchers used the sensors to secure data on pre-collapse
structural vibrations in two burn tests: a wood-frame house in Kinston,
S.C., and a wood-frame warehouse in Phoenix, Ariz. All three NIST
structural collapse experiments were part of a two-year series sponsored
by the United States Fire Administration.
The researchers
hope to develop a methodology for interpreting the vibration data.
A warning device that uses such technology could be attached to burning
buildings or incorporated into building safety systems like smoke
detectors.
For technical
information, contact Dave Evans, (301) 975-6897, dave.evans@nist.gov.
Media
Contact:
John
Blair, (301) 975-4261
Computer
Security
NIST Guides Help
Defend Against Cyberattacks
The
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is publishing
a wide variety of computer security guides this year to provide the
federal government with the latest information on fending off cyber-attacks.
Computer
scientists in NISTs Information Technology Laboratory are charged
with providing technical advice to other federal agencies under the
Computer Security Act of 1987. To meet this mission, NISTs computer
security guides address the information needs of systems administrators
and other IT professionals. The published guidance covers topics ranging
from how to protect a public Web site from computer hackers to steps
agencies can take to make electronic mail systems more secure.
While
the NIST computer security guides are intended primarily for federal
agencies, the information also can be beneficial to private-sector
and non-federal businesses and organizations.
The
guides are available for downloading from NISTs Computer Security
Resource Center (CSRC) at http://csrc.nist.gov/publications;
click on Special Publications for published guides and
Drafts for pending guides. In addition, the CSRC Web site
(http://csrc.nist.gov) provides
access to a wealth of information, tools, programs and services in
the areas of 1) security policies, standards and guidelines; 2) security
validated products; 3) training and education; and 4) collaborative
work and services.
Media
Contact:
Philip
Bulman, (301) 975-5661
Time
and Frequency
From A(mbiguity)
to Z(ulu): New T&F Glossary Makes It All Clear
The
next time you stumble on a word in the time and frequency category,
click on NISTs new online glossary for this subject (tf.nist.gov/timefreq/general/glossary.htm)
for help. The new Web page provides a collection of terms commonly
used in the time and frequency literature with their technically correct,
easily understood explanations.
Readers new to
the field of time and frequency will find this glossary useful when
reading papers found in the NIST
Time and Frequency Publications Database.
Out of the more
than 1,500 time and frequency publications written by NIST personnel
dating back to 1949, approximately 600 publications are already available
online. Additional publications, both old and new, will be posted
on the Web in the coming months. As the publications site grows, the
time and frequency glossary will evolve at the same time to make sure
it remains a useful educational and scientific resource.
Media
Contact:
Fred
McGehan (Boulder), (303) 497-3246
Awards
Five from NIST
Honored for Outstanding Government Service
Five
NIST employees are among 12 men and women selected to receive the
2001 Arthur S. Flemming Award. The award, first presented in 1948,
honors federal employees with three to 15 years of public service
who have made extraordinary contributions to the federal government.
Flemming Awards
are given in three categories: administrative, applied science and
science. There are NIST honorees in each group. In the administrative
category, the award goes to Kathleen M. Higgins, chief, Office of
Law Enforcement Standards, Electronics and Electrical Engineering
Laboratory. In the applied science category, the award goes to Leonard
M. Hanssen, physicist, Optical Technology Division, Physics Laboratory;
and Stanley R. Snouffer, mathematician, Computer Security Division,
Information Technology Laboratory. In the science category, the award
goes to two physicists in the Atomic Physics Division, Physics Laboratory:
John H. Burnett and Steven L. Rolston.
The Flemming Awards
will be presented at a June 11, 2002, ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Media
Contact:
Michael
E. Newman, (301) 975-3025
Fire
Research
NIST CD Captures
Lessons of Fatal Iowa Blaze
Firefighters
have a new training tool in a recently released CD from the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that makes dramatic use
of graphics, video, audio and computer simulation technologies to
recreate an Iowa house fire that claimed the lives of three children
and three firefighters.
The CD and accompanying
report, Simulation of the Dynamics of a Fire in a Two-story
Duplex -Iowa, December 22, 1999 (NISTIR 6854), illustrate how
a smoldering kitchen fire suddenly can reach flashover (the condition
in which deadly fire simultaneously ignites and consumes all objects
in a room); send thermal gases at greater than 660 degrees Celsius
(1,100 degrees Fahrenheit) into a dining room and living room; and
shoot deadly flames and gases up a stairway to the second floorall
within 60 seconds. The CD uses NISTs Fire Dynamics Simulator
program, which numerically models the movement of smoke and hot gases
caused by fire, and Smokeview, which permits visualization of the
data, to provide insight into fire development and thermal conditions
in the residence.
In addition to
providing the timeline, floor plan, post-fire photographs and model
results (both still and animated), the CD offers a video and audio
presentation on the fire and investigation. The National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) sponsored the NIST study
and the CD. The CD contains printable versions of both the NIST and
NIOSH reports on the incident.
Requests for the
CD should be sent to Dan Madrzykowski, fax: (301) 975-4647, daniel.madrzykowski@nist.gov.
Magnetic
Technology
New Microwave
Measurement Method Aids Semiconductor Industry
The
semiconductor industry needs accurate measurements of microwave fields
near digital integrated circuits. Traditional technology requires
that probes be in contact with the circuits, interfering with circuit
operations and making the measurements costly to perform. High-resolution,
non-invasive measurements of high-frequency signals exceeding 20 gigahertz
are critical to the development of microwave circuits and high-frequency,
silicon-based technologies.
To solve this
problem, NIST scientists in the Magnetic Technology Division have
developed a micromachined, bi-material cantilever with a thin-film
ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) sensor to probe microwave fields near
digital integrated circuits. A magnetic alloy film deposited at the
tip of the cantilever serves as the probe. Power absorption at the
tip results in a proportional bending of the cantilever due to heating;
the deflection of the cantilever is measured with an optical lever.
The small dimensions of the probe (20 micrometers by 20 micrometers
by 0.05 micrometer) permit measurements of microwave fields near devices
with 20-micrometer spatial resolution.
Since the absorbed
power is proportional to the local microwave intensity, the sensor
can be used as a quantitative, microscopic, scanning microwave power
meter. With this new technique, the semiconductor industry can now
make integrated circuit tests at tens of gigahertz without the need
for contacts.
For more information,
contact John Moreland, (303) 497-3641, moreland@boulder.nist.gov.
Go back to NIST News Page
Editor: Michael E. Newman
Date
created: 5/13/2002
Contact: inquiries@nist.gov
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