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 ...

For 129 years, the kilogram has been defined by a lump of metal in a French vault -- but that's about to change. Jackson Ryan was CNET's science editor, and a multiple award-winning one at that.

The big science-y news of last week was the vote to officially redefine of the kilogram-- see the stories in Physics World and Physics Today for more detail--after decades of work by physicists on ...

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 U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology called this Friday a “turning point for humanity,” even though the difference between this day and the day before weighs, theoretically, nothing ...

Kevin Pimbblet receives funding from STFC and the Royal Astronomical Society. How much is a kilogram? 1,000 grams. 2.20462 pounds. Or 0.0685 slugs based on the old Imperial gravitational system. But ...

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 policy makers from around 60 nations ...

Brynn Hibbert receives funding from ARC, International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). He is Past President of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Past Chair of the Analytical Division ...

The official US kilogram — the physical prototype against which all weights in the United States are calibrated — cannot be touched by human hands except in rare circumstances. Sealed beneath a bell ...

In a subterranean vault in a suburb of Paris lies a small, rarely seen metal cylinder known as Le Grand K. For 130 years, this golf-ball-sized hunk of 90% platinum and 10% iridium has served as the ...