@jakekaufmann2937
As someone in the analytical chemistry field, these standards are vital. It is how analytical labs are able to charge such a price for what seems to be them just analysing a sample.
@BunnLilah
They need to get that "most average person in the country" and have them live there just to 100% the collection
@kevp6488
The existence of "Powdered Domestic Sludge" makes me immediately think of someone using it for a prank and not realizing they're commiting bioterrorism.
@ryanqualley8143
I love how passionate that guy is about his job. You can tell he loves so much about what he does, and he is so excited about it and it makes me really happy to see.
@弘睿甫
This is probably the closest real life equivalent we can find to Plato's world of beings. A world of fundamental forms. And every object in reality is just a slight variation of these base forms.
@edwinglenn
I used to work as a chemist in a materials testing lab, and we used NIST metallic standards constantly. Our machine shop even machined a lot of those charpy standards for NIST!
@sonuvahsans9971
7:29 i like how you could clearly see him being pushed on an office chair to get that stable moving shot
@rogermouton2273
Just makes me think that, in general, there's so many people with really deep knowledge and skills that are working away constantly to keep our world safe and operational. It's very useful to remember how we're all so dependent on people like this.
@markproulx1472
NIST is one of, if not the, most under appreciated of all US government agencies. I was lucky to be able to tour their metrology lab in Gathersburg, MD in 2007. It was just mind blowing.
@Salex684
I'm a pharmacist and always ensured my students knew that the temperature monitoring devices (basically a thermometer) for the refrigerator/freezer that holds medications must have a certificate of calibration tracing its accuracy back to NIST, as well as ensuring they knew those devices do in fact "expire" and should be re-calibrated or, more practically, replaced. Great video to get to see the rest of NIST's world!
@gerbipospolity6987
Didin't stop NileRed from making his cookie lmao
@rcrnitto
I work for a company that produces every type of analytical measurement instrument you could ever think of. We use NIST reference materials every day to qualify our instruments. We call them SARMs though, standard analytical reference materials. We use NIST steel spheres to calibrate our density measurement machines. They produce a great product, and are vital to industries like mine. Keep up the good work guys!
@fastandFourier
Handling a 50 micron spherical ruby single crystal from NIST to calibrate X-ray diffraction equipment has been one of the scariest experiences I ever had as a researcher... I had nightmares about dropping it on the floor and losing it
@estefanello
I work in an analytical lab here in Brazil and I use a lot of this peanut butter reference material as a quality control for mycotoxins, fatty acids and metal ions in food. It smells so good though! And thanks a lot for these people that work at NIST and make this reference materials. You guys rock!
@franzpattison
"so, what do you collect?" "everything." "..."
@EvilTim1911
I love how in the shot at 7:30 you can see a reflection of Derek being pushed in an office chair in the shiny shelves, a great improvised dolly.
@waynenocton
Working in the lab of a sewage treatment plant, was interesting for a while, but then became insanely boring, but one neat thing was the fact that the more accurate our scales were, and also our ability to dispense the necessary items for testing, the smaller the test sample could be, and therefore the less of those necessary items would be used as well. Our scale was so accurate that we could weight our fingerprints. We would have elementary school kids tour the plant from time to time, and we would pick one to pickup a beaker while we turned our back, then we could correctly tell them how many fingers they used to pick it up with. We did have to instruct them to use the pads of their fingers not the tips to make it fair, but as long as they played fair, we had a 100% correct “guess”, and the kids absolutely loved it. We also typically picked a kid that was somewhat socially awkward, which made them the big shot hoping to help them socially.
@pravinlnrk
As someone working in the steel industry, I can vouch for the importance of the steel standard reference material.
@garthvader9916
0:20 Poor guy, imagine going through school with the name "Domestic Sludge"... 😢
@jackharbor3347