National Physical Laboratory

While many of us may be taking part in dry January, it feels like a good time to learn how one of the UK’s most famous ales developed its cap-fitting process in manufacturing, with a little help from NPL!

Newcastle Brown Ale was first brewed in 1927 and now sells over one million litres each year. To keep up with demand, the company needs to ensure their bottling facility runs smoothly, this includes sealing their bottles. A loose-fitting cap would mean your “Newkie Brown” would lose fizz, while a tight cap would cause damage.

The company developed a pass-fail gauge as a metal plate with precisely drilled holes to pass over the bottlecap to indicate crimp tolerance. This creates a simple system to check the caps are correctly fitted.

This gauge is regularly calibrated against standards which can be traced back to here at NPL, where analysis of the results further helps with optimisation of the production process.

So think of this little factoid when you pop your first bottle of the year in February!

It’s good to give back! Each year at NPL Teddington, we put together a box of gifts for our local charity, the Friends of Teddington Memorial Hospital. The gifts make their way to people receiving treatment and to those working shifts to care for others during the holidays.

The foundations of the modern internet were first ‘switched on’ on New Year’s Day 1983, but its history stretches back a few decades before the scratchy sound of dial up internet first graced our ears.

In the 1960s, NPL began developing a method for transmitting long electronic messages by splitting them into chunks, called packet switching. Packet switching still forms the basis of the complex computer communications systems we use today. The technique was developed by NPL’s Donald Davies and, by the early 1970s, the first practical networks using packet switching were introduced to the NPL local network, providing a range of online services to around 200 users. This demonstration provided a much‑needed steer to the development of the ARPANET, which would evolve into the internet we know today. Perhaps your New Year’s resolution is to spend less time on the internet, but we’re happy to celebrate its ‘birthday’!

As you watch the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix finale this weekend, you’ll most likely hear the commentators talk about g-forces the drivers experience. But what is a g-force? Let’s take a look.

Happy Halloween! 👻

Do you believe in ghosts? Ever gotten a spooky feeling in an old building?

Those feelings are hard to explain but may actually have a very scientific explanation: infrasound.

Infrasound is sound emitted at a frequency lower than 20 Hz, which is largely inaudible to the human ear. However, it can be created by organ pipes in churches, machinery, and even some natural events such as earthquakes. Some researchers believe that infrasound could induce this “haunted” feeling.

NPL developed an “infrasonic cannon” to test this. It was placed in a concert hall in South London, where 750 people were invited to listen to pieces of contemporary music. Unbeknownst to them, sound from the cannon was intermittently played at 17 Hz. People were then asked to report on their feelings.

The results showed a 22% increase in “odd sensations” experienced by the audience when the sound was played, including sorrow, coldness and shivers down the spine.

So, it could well be that infrasound can induce these spooky feelings. However, it’s difficult to design an experiment to measure subjective experience.

Tag your friends in the comments if they’ve experienced this sensation!

We're excited to be major sponsors of the Bradford Science Festival 2025!

We'll be trekking across the city as part of our 'It's all science to me' tour, celebrating 125 years of NPL. Join us for nine days of future-facing activities and events with something for all ages.

As always, our team will bring measurement science to life. Come and meet the SI bots and discover the impact that metrology has on our everyday lives.

25 October - 2 November | https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/whats-on/bradford-science-festival

A huge welcome to our newest graduate cohort!

16 graduates have joined us this month to embark on their career journeys across a range of teams at NPL.

We’re also proud to have launched our first ever UK Telecoms Lab Graduate Programme, welcoming two graduates into this exciting new pathway.

Our graduate programme is highly popular every year. Vacancies typically open in October - November. Visit our careers site to see current available roles or sign up to our mailing list for updates.

https://www.npl.co.uk/careers