If scientists had sacred objects, this would be one of them: a single, closely guarded 137-year-old cylinder of metal, housed in a vault outside of Paris. It is a prototype that precisely defines a ...

The metric system is great, but sometimes it simply doesn't do justice to what you're trying to describe. These highly-specialized units of measurement might be of use! Sagan. Inspired by and in ...

In the age of big data, it is time to ensure that units are routinely documented for easy, unambiguous exchange of information. Robert Hanisch is the director of the Office of Data and Informatics at ...

The NIST-4 Kibble balance, an electromagnetic weighing machine that is used to measure Planck's constant, and in turn, redefine the kilogram. Jennifer Lauren Lee / NIST Locked in a vault that requires ...

The metric system is on track for a mass makeover. In an effort to provide accurate measurements at all scales, scientists are preparing to redefine four basic units by the end of 2018. The shift will ...

Your browser does not support the video element. Your browser does not support the video element. What the hell is a hellabyte? That's what Richard Brown wanted to ...

As ever more digital data is created and stored, the world needs more unit measurements to keep up with the ever-expanding numbers. To do so, the 27th General Conference on Weights and Measures on ...