Approximately 500 NIST staffers, including at least three lab directors, are expected to lose their jobs at the standards agency as part of the ongoing DOGE purge, sources tell WIRED.
A big part of the NIST’s job is providing standard samples so everyone can measure accurately. From weights of ingredients, to determining exact compositions of food, pharmaceuticals, drinking water, etc. its all measured relative to a NIST standard. Every scale you’ve ever used was calibrated against a weight that several steps back was ultimately calibrated against a NIST standard. Without a good standard, it’s basically impossible to accurately measure anything.
This one is going to hurt everyone in far-reaching and unrecoverable ways.
I would like to know more. This one wasn’t on my anxieties list, but apparently it should be.
A big part of the NIST’s job is providing standard samples so everyone can measure accurately. From weights of ingredients, to determining exact compositions of food, pharmaceuticals, drinking water, etc. its all measured relative to a NIST standard. Every scale you’ve ever used was calibrated against a weight that several steps back was ultimately calibrated against a NIST standard. Without a good standard, it’s basically impossible to accurately measure anything.
NIST is a very important party in researching quantum resistant cryptography