"’Twas the night before Christmas; NIST staff had gone home.
Our director was left to reflect all alone.
She thought about NIST and the breadth of its work,
from AI to fire to even the quark.
Our impact, she knew, was broad and widespread,
and triumphs of measurement danced in her head.
Examples abounded of great innovation
spurred by NIST work for the good of the nation.
When people pump gas or buy food at the store,
NIST helps to ensure they get what they paid for.
And when they’re online and making transactions,
NIST-backed encryption means safer interactions.
There are frameworks that help with cyber hygiene.
And something we call the million-pound deadweight machine.
What else to her adoring eyes should appear,
but a Lego watt balance and a weathering sphere. "
Continue reading this scientific version of a famous tale
