Consumers
can trust the weight or volume given on food labels thanks in
large part to NIST, which convened the first meeting of state weights
and measures officials in 1905. NISTs work to ensure fairness
in the marketplace continues today through activities such as support
of the National Conference on Weights and Measures.
Patients
receive accurate radiation doses in disease diagnosis and treatment
today thanks to NIST radiation measurement and standards activities
under way since the 1970s. NISTs contributions to the safe
medical use of radiation began many years ago and included efforts
to help bring about the 1931 X-ray safety code, which set guidelines
for protective devices for patients and
operators.
From the Global
Positioning System to stock exchanges, many modern technological
systems depend on the precise synchronization made possible by highly
accurate atomic clocks, the first of which (based on the ammonia
molecule) was operated by NIST in 1949. NISTs latest atomic
clock neither gains nor loses a second in nearly 20 million years.
A visit to
the dentist is much more pleasant today than it was years ago
because of NISTs ongoing research collaboration with the American
Dental Association. This work has led to innovations such as the
hydraulic turbine dental handpiece in 1953, the forerunner of todays
high-speed drills; the panoramic X-ray machine; composite filling
materials; and dental adhesives.
Analyses of
blood cholesterol levels, DNA fingerprinting, and other
laboratory tests are more accurate and reliable thanks to
NISTs Standard Reference Materials (SRMs)artifacts with
certifiable measurements or propertiesfor clinical applications,
the first of which was produced in 1967. NIST now produces and sells
about 35,000 units of clinical and other SRMs annually.
Bridges, hotels, and other structures are safer today because
of NISTs investigations of structural failures, including
the 1967 collapse of the Point Pleasant Bridge linking West Virginia
to Ohio and the 1981 collapse of walkways in Kansas Citys
Hyatt Regency Hotel. Such investigations have led to changes in
designs, materials, and procedures that enhance safety.
Withdrawals
from automated teller machines are among the billions of dollars
worth of elec-tronic data transactions that have been secured
for many years with the first publicly available data encryption
standard, issued by NIST in 1977. NIST is currently coordinating
the development of a more powerful successor standard.
The U.S.
death rate from fires declined by 50 percent between the early
1970s and late 1990s, in large part because smoke detectors are
now installed in more than 95 percent of homes. NIST made this improvement
possible by developing, with Underwriters Laboratories participation,
the first fire performance standard for smoke detectors and recommendations
on number, type, and placement.
Date created:
2/9/01
Last updated: 2/9/01
Contact: inquiries@nist.gov
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