The world depends on a collection of strange items. They're not cheap

They need to get that "most average person in the country" and have them live there just to 100% the collection

As a cybersecurity engineer, I cannot hype up NIST enough. They maintain this security database that contains all known software vulnerabilities in existence. Every major company, government and military is using this database to check for vulnerabilities in their infrastructure. Thank you NIST.

As a scientist, I really appreciate this. These guys are the ubernerds working behind the scenes to make sure us ordinary nerds can have the tools to do our jobs.

Didin't stop NileRed from making his cookie lmao

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.

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.

Fun fact: the Calories on the nutrition label is calculated by setting the food on fire! The Cal is a measure of energy released heating 1 g of water, the sample is placed in a sphere surrounded by water then ignited. The temperature difference of the surrounding water determines how much energy the food contains, as the stomach works just like a combustion engine or.... something like that

They prolly got the best weed

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.

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!

I’m an analytical chemist, and anyone who works in any lab or in most manufacturing operations definitely knows and appreciates the vital importance of reference standards to calibrate our instruments and ‘test our tests.’ Now NIST isn’t the only game in town that provides SRMs, but you might consider them the ‘standard of standards.’

The existence of "Powdered Domestic Sludge" makes me immediately think of someone using it for a prank and not realizing they're commiting bioterrorism.

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.

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

NIST are the hero's behind the scenes. I've done work in reliability engineering. Theses people deserve all the praise

They're on a 100% item collecting run

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!

NIST also played a pivotal role in standardizing internet communication protocols. Without them, the Internet would be a much more chaotic and much slower

When he says "I wouldn't recommend eating it" because the peanut butter may be very old, that suggests a problem. When a perishable item "goes off" that is because of a chemical reaction of some kind (possibly from oxidation, or just biological contamination). In order for that jar of peanut butter to be a standard for the calibration of equipment, shouldn't it be 1 to 1 identical to the product that you are trying to produce? If the oils in it have gone rancid due to age, then how can it be a viable benchmark?

I work in a polymer manufacturing laboratory and I cannot stress the importance of standards enough! Such an interesting clip!