Scientists around the world are looking for an alternative definition for the kilogram, after the basic unit of measurement proved unstable
New York Times
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It seems that the cult of thinness has also attacked the kilogram itself: according to scientists, the standard unit of weight is losing weight, and this causes those involved in science embarrassment and confusion. The kilogram is defined by a platinum-iridium cylinder, cast in England in 1889 and kept under heavy security in an estate outside Paris. No one knows why it loses weight, at least compared to other weights, but the change has sparked international research in an attempt to find a more stable definition for the kilogram.
Although the change in the kilogram is only 50 micrograms, less than the weight of a grain of salt, this is enough to disrupt scientific calculations. "It certainly doesn't help to have a standard that changes," said Dr. Peter Becker, a scientist at the US Federal Standards Laboratory, where 1,500 scientists dedicate all their work to improving methods for accurate measurement.
Dr. Becker heads an international team of researchers seeking to redefine the kilogram, by measuring a crystal made of silicon and trying to identify the number of atoms in it. Other teams are trying to find competing definitions, for example - by measuring the electric voltage of the crystal, as a means of finding out the exact number of atoms in the crystal. The decision between the methods will be made by the International Committee for Weights and Measures, an international institution founded in 1875
The kilogram is the only one of the seven basic measurements that still retains its definition from the 19th century. New definitions have since been found for the other measurements: the meter, for example, which was initially defined in relation to the circumference of the Earth, is now defined as the distance that light travels in the 299,792,458th part of a second, while the second, which was originally defined as the 86,400th part of the day, defined by counting the oscillations of the cesium atom.
According to Dr. Richard Davis from the International Committee of Weights and Measures, according to the publications so far, the electric voltage method has reached greater accuracy than the atomic method, but it is still impossible to know what the committee's decision will be. Meanwhile, the search for an alternative definition for the meter continues at the same time in many different countries in the world. "It would be nice if two experiments in the world reached the same results," says Davis.
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