When we measure the world, we measure it using base units like 'foot,' 'mile,' 'meter,' and 'second.' But who decides how big those units of measurement are? In the United States, those units are ...

Scientists from around the world are gathering in France today to decide the fate of the kilogram. For nearly 130 years, the kilogram has been based on a lump of metal called the Big K, locked in a ...

The 'one kilogram to rule them all' was cast in platinum and iridium in 1879 and is kept in a triple-locked vault THE world says goodbye to the original kilogram on May 20, on World Metrology Day.

A kilo is a kilo is a kilo, right? Wrong. Monday marks World Metrology Day, and this year’s edition sees a big change in the way the kilogram unit is defined. In November last year, scientists and ...

The kilogram may need to go on a diet. The international standard, a cylinder-shaped hunk of metal that defines the fundamental unit of mass, has gained tens of micrograms of mass from surface ...

The kilogram has the dubious distinction of being the only SI unit still based on a physical object; specifically, a metal cylinder kept in a vault in France. Plans are well underway to redefine the ...

How much is a kilogram? 1,000 grams. 2.20462 pounds. Or 0.0685 slugs based on the old Imperial gravitational system. But where does this amount actually come from and how can everyone be sure they are ...

More than a century ago, a small metal cylinder was forged in London and sent to a leafy suburb of Paris. The cylinder was about the size of a salt shaker and made of an alloy of platinum and iridium, ...

We measure stuff all the time—how long, how heavy, how hot, and so on—because we need to for things such as trade, health and knowledge. But making sure our measurements compare apples with apples has ...

Scientists and policy makers from around 60 nations voted unanimously Friday to redefine the kilogram. The decision at the General Conference on Weights and Measures in Versailles, France was greeted ...

Scientists have changed the way the kilogram is defined. Currently, it is defined by the weight of a platinum-based ingot called "Le Grand K" which is locked away in a safe in Paris. On Friday, ...

THE kilogram, the scientific unit of mass, is defined by a cylindrical lump of platinum and iridium, made in 1879 and stored in Paris. There are also around 40 copies of it in scientific ...