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NIST Sponsors Historic Data Scrambling Battle
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Information Technology
NIST Sponsors Historic Data Scrambling Battle
When Alexander the Great stormed across three continents, he communicated with his army commanders by sending encoded messages. Each letter was shifted a certain number of positions. For example, a three-position shift would replace every "a" with a "d." Today, one of the most important competitions in the history of code making is unfolding as cryptographers from around the world vie for the distinction of having the best data scrambling code for the 21st century. The National Institute of Standards and Technology invited cryptographers to compete in the Advanced Encryption Standard contest.
Researchers from 12 different countries submitted 15 candidates for the AES. These sophisticated mathematical formulas, called algorithms, are at the heart of computerized encryption systems, which encode everything from electronic mail to the secret PIN numbers people use in ATM machines. NIST is evaluating the algorithms, and cryptographers have been asked to "attack" each of the formulas to discover weaknesses that could crack the codes. The American candidates include algorithms developed by International Business Machines Corp., RSA Laboratories of San Mateo, Calif., Cylink Corp. of Sunnyvale, Calif., Counterpane Systems of Minneapolis, and a computer scientist from the University of Arizona.
Media Contact:
Philip Bulman, (301) 975-5661
Fire Research
NIST Pioneers Testing of Smart Smoke Alarms
A new generation of "smart" smoke alarms soon may end the many false alarms caused by hyper-vigilant detectors. Some current detectors are so sensitive that they sound an alarm in response to steam floating out of a bathroom where someone has taken a shower. Others will blast a warning about a small amount of smoke from cooking. In homes the results can range from the humorous to the catastrophic. Some people yell at the alarms, while others may disconnect them, ensuring they will not work in a real fire. Similarly, false alarms in the cargo holds of commercial aircraft can force emergency landings.
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Building and Fire Research Laboratory have developed a flow tunnel--similar to a wind tunnel--specially designed to test smart smoke detectors. The smart detectors can use as many as three different detection technologies and microprocessor technology to help the detector "decide" when to signal an alarm. For example, a detector might be programmed to ignore vapor that is not accompanied by rising temperatures.
The NIST facility will allow smoke detector manufacturers to see how their products react to vapor, varying humidity levels, smoke produced by different kinds of fires and even invisible gases such as carbon monoxide.
Media Contact:
Philip Bulman, (301) 975-5661
Materials
Polymers Could Be Key Ingredient for Advanced Microchips
Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology analyzing polymers as possible insulators for advanced microchips were surprised to learn that the materials behave much differently when they are in ultra-thin layers than they do when they are in larger pieces. That finding may be especially relevant because developing smaller, more powerful computer chips depends in part on finding new insulating materials that work in extremely thin layers. For microchips to work, their tiny circuits must be electrically insulated from one another. Consequently, the required thickness of an insulator is one factor dictating how small chips can be made.
Plastics that might make superior insulators have a drawback: they quickly turn rubbery at certain temperatures. Scientists have known that large samples of plastics turn abruptly from hard and glassy to soft and rubbery at a point called the glass-transition temperature. Unfortunately for chip makers, the expansion rate is much faster above this temperature.
But now, NIST research has shown that extremely thin films--layers only about five molecules thick--of a polymer called polystyrene do not show the same rapid changes with temperature. Instead, they expand and turn rubbery gradually, at a constant rate. The research is ongoing. Further experiments will include investigation of how the polymer behaves when covered with different materials to better model real-life microchip applications.
Media Contact:
Emil Venere, (301) 975-5745
Robotics
NIST Robot Crane Soon May Weld the 'Hull' Thing
Imagine you're a shipyard welder trying to do your job while crawling between the two walls of a double-hulled ship made up of 15-meter (50 foot) long steel plates only about 1 meter (3 feet) apart. Besides claustrophobia, you would be faced with poor air quality, difficult lighting conditions and a potentially hazardous work environment. That's the problem that a team of researchers and engineers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Newport News Shipbuilders and Advanced Technology and Research Inc. hope to avoid by enlisting the talents of RoboCrane, NIST's ultra-stable, highly maneuverable robotic platform and other industry technologies.
RoboCrane is controlled by six cables from three upper support points. This keeps the cables taut and the platform stiff, permitting extremely precise movement in any direction. The latest version of the NIST technology, the Tetrahedral Robotic Apparatus or TETRA, allows the RoboCrane platform to be suspended from walls, a ceiling or a crane. In upcoming tests, TETRA will be attached to a warehouse ceiling at Newport News Shipbuilders to deliver and retrieve a 675-kilogram (1,500-pound) robotic weld system for welding a sample double-hulled ship cell.
Media Contact:
Michael E. Newman, (301) 975-3025
Space Crystals
Scientists Go to New Heights for Better Radiation Detectors
If you hear hoof beats think horses, not zebras. Good advice, except the simple answer isn't always the right one. When a high-tech company wanted to increase the sensitivity of its specialty crystals for detecting high-energy radiation, it joined a project with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and NASA to grow the crystals on the space shuttle. All crystals are expected to grow better without the strain of gravity tugging in one direction. Experiments on two space shuttle flights proved that the crystals of mercuric iodide grown in space did indeed perform better as gamma ray detectors.
But a recent series of X-ray diffraction experiments conducted by the NIST research team at the Brookhaven National Synchrotron Light Source produced a surprising reason for the improvement. The crystal planes of the space grown crystals were actually less uniform than the Earth-grown variety, but the lack of gravity caused fewer chemical composition flaws in the materials. Constellation Technology Corp. of Largo, Fla., now is using results of this research to improve processing of the crystals on Earth. Because mercuric iodide crystals work at room temperature, they may be able to replace more costly radiation detection materials that require cooling to liquid nitrogen temperatures.
Media Contact:
Emil Venere, (301) 975-5745
Manufacturing
Excalibur USA Cuts Inefficiency, Improves Productivity 63%
Unlike King Arthur's sword, it wasn't magic that helped Excalibur USA achieve impressive results in productivity and quality. It was the California Manufacturing Technology Center, an affiliate of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Manufacturing Extension Partnership. Based in Oxnard, Calif., this 160-employee company makes window covering systems for interior design firms and other businesses.
Last January, Excalibur president Mychael Margott asked CMTC to help it improve quality while increasing process flow and management of inventory. After implementing changes recommended by CMTC, productivity increased by 63 percent, wait-time for shipping orders decreased by 10 percent, and employee turnover has been cut by 10 percent because of improved morale. "CMTC has been vital in helping us gain control over our growth," Margott said. "We can now resume our aggressive marketing efforts, knowing that production will keep up with increased demand."
With a nationwide network of over 2,000 manufacturing experts, MEP is helping small and mid-size manufacturers improve productivity, increase profits and enhance competitiveness. Smaller manufacturers can call 1-800-MEP-4MFG to reach the MEP center that serves them. Information on MEP and its network also can found on the World Wide Web at www.mep.nist.gov. For further information on CMTC or Excalibur USA, contact Bob Bishop at (310) 263-3082.
Media Contact:
Jan Kosko, (301) 975-2767
Tech Trivia
Fifteen years ago this month, the General Conference on Weights and Measures adopted a new definition of the meter (the distance light travels in a vacuum during 1/299,792,458 of a second) based on National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) research. Its first definition was the length between two marks on a platinum-iridium bar at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris.
In the early 1950s, the National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) developed an automated manufacturing process for electronic parts and subassemblies. The project, dubbed Tinkertoy, demonstrated that plants could be set up for rapid production of electronic equipment.
A 1951 National Geographic article on the National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) heralded the coming of individual pocket radios with miniature tubes and printed circuits. Pocket-sized radios would be possible thanks to an NBS/Johns Hopkins University invention, the proximity fuse, which made bombs more accurate.
U.S. Department of
Commerce
Technology Administration
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Editor: Linda Joy
HTML conversion: Crissy Wines
Last update: January 19, 1999
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