Since the 19th century, scientists have based their definition of the fundamental unit of mass on a physical object — a shining platinum iridium cylinder stored in a locked vault in the bowels of the ...

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 ...

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 ...

Since 1889, human civilization has depended upon a magic rock. Known as Le Grand K, it sits under protective glass in St. Cloud, France. Humanity's magic rock is actually a chunk of metallic alloy ...

How we measure the world underwent a quantum leap on Monday as scientists adopted new hyper-accurate definitions for units of weight, electricity and temperature derived from the universal laws of ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Martin Scanlon receives funding from NSERC Canada. He is a member of the Board of Directors of AACCI - Cereals & Grains Association. University of Manitoba provides funding as a founding partner of ...