Step inside this REALM that’s full of measurement possibilities. This room is called the Robotically Enhanced Antenna Laboratory for Metrology, aka REALM. Here, NIST researchers use NIST-pioneered robotic antenna measurement systems called the Large Antenna Positioning Systems (LAPS) and the Configurable Robotic MilliMeter-wave Antenna (CROMMA) that essentially are really accurate radio-frequency holographic cameras for doing antenna measurements. The lab is based at our campus in Boulder, Color

We know there are scales for measuring large objects, but did you know there’s a scale for measuring tiny ones, too? It’s called an electrostatic force balance, or EFB, and is used to measure the mass of small objects that weigh between 50 micrograms and 20 milligrams. Because the device uses electrostatic forces – think the static charge that occurs when you rub a balloon against your hair – it can be traced back to the fundamental constants in the SI (the modern metric system) through electric