Taking Measure Blog: Mathematics and statistics

Mathematics and statistics

Listening to the Data: How a NIST Tool Helps Labs Worldwide Harmonize Measurements

April 3, 2024

In a global economy, measurements need to be reliably comparable across the world. But how do we ensure that actually happens?

Zach Grey poses outdoors with wind turbines in the background.

Riding the Wind: How Applied Geometry and Artificial Intelligence Can Help Us Win the Renewable Energy Race

January 10, 2024

A NIST researcher is using math and AI to help design an optimal wind turbine.

A medical worker wears gloves as she prepares to swab the nose of a female patient.

Measuring the Accuracy of PCR Tests Can Improve Health Care Beyond COVID-19

September 13, 2023

Many of us have taken a COVID-19 test. But, have you ever wondered, after your sample goes off to a lab, exactly how they arrive at a positive or negative

Under Pressure: Blaise Pascal, the Barometer and Bike Tires

June 14, 2023

On his 400th birthday, we celebrate the scientist whose name is the unit of measurement for air, bike and car tire pressure. You should read it. No pressure.

NIST researcher Justyna Zwolak reads a book about Ada Lovelace to her young daughter

Ada Lovelace: The World’s First Computer Programmer Who Predicted Artificial Intelligence

March 22, 2023

During Women’s History Month, I am remembering Ada Lovelace’s contributions and thinking about the impact she had on me as a scientist and mathematician.

AMO for All: How Online Portals Are Democratizing the Field of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics

November 2, 2022

Portals allow less-experienced researchers to do real calculations without knowing how to build the code themselves.

Jeffrey Fong poses smiling in front of a railing overlooking a concrete dam.

My Journey From Designing Dams to Helping Structures Live Their Longest Lives

August 4, 2022

Jeffrey Fong writes about how his personal drive for safe engineering design led him to work at NIST.

Left: Machine that looks like an old fashioned typewriter in a box. Right: picture of Alan Turing along with a bio. Both are from a museum exhibit.

Alan Turing’s Everlasting Contributions to Computing, AI and Cryptography

June 23, 2022

Suppose someone asked you to devise the most powerful computer possible. Alan Turing, whose reputation as a central figure in computer science and artificial

The NIST Summer Undergraduate Fellowship Program Goes Virtual

February 2, 2021

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) designed the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program to inspire undergraduate students

The Future Is Now: Spreading the Word About Post-Quantum Cryptography

December 2, 2020

I consider myself a quiet guy — on a Friday night you can usually find me at home doing crossword puzzles. Public speaking doesn’t come naturally to me, and I

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