Noise-free labs, IBM research. Tool bases (with equipment attachment holes) forming part of a de-coupled user platform inside one of the 'noise-free' laboratories at the Binnig and Rohrer Nanotechnology Center at IBM Research-Zurich, Switzerland. The vibration isolation blocks weigh 30 to 68 tons each, and were placed with millimetre precision. The 'noise-free' laboratories, constructed in 2011, are shielded against external and internal vibrations, acoustic noise, electromagnetic fields and temperature fluctuations. They will provide an ideal research environment for nanometre-scale research over the next 20 to 30 years. Photographed in May 2011.