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NIST Wants An Electronic Kilogram

Dearing writes "According to the Global Engineering Journal, NIST, those not-so-standard standards people, want to give up the hunk of metal they've been calling a kilogram, even though it never weighs the same twice. In it's place, an electronic kilogram could act as the permanent standard."

11 of 270 comments (clear)

  1. The ultimate diet hack by smnolde · · Score: 5, Funny

    We all now lost 10% of our weight. I just hacked NIST's computers and changed the reference.

    Why aren't I thin now? I must hack the electronic tape measure next.

    $10 if you want me to make you taller, too.

    1. Re:The ultimate diet hack by Mononoke · · Score: 5, Funny
      I must hack the electronic tape measure next.
      Ah, so that's what all those 'increase your penis length' spams were all about.

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      NetInfo connection failed for server 127.0.0.1/local
  2. Damn kids... by chinton · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why when I was a lad, all we had was a platinum-iridium cylinder, and we liked it. But you damn kids today, with yer newfangled electronic kilogram, why I oughta...

    1. Re:Damn kids... by tbone1 · · Score: 4, Funny
      #include

      Well, we had it toof. We didn't have any of this metric rubbish. We used the stone-furlong-fortnight measurement system. Everyone had to lug around a big stone and a flatulent racehorse for two weeks just to measure something. A platinum-iridium cylinder? Luxury!

      --

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  3. Re:What? by sphealey · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Sheeze, why not just define it as 1.498e20 atoms of carbon (or whatever number), and be done with it."

    No problemo - as soon as you figure out a practical method for counting out those atoms on the floor of your typical machine shop. 'Oops - dropped another one. Someone blow the oil off it NO NOT THAT HARD - damm, out the window'.

    sPh

  4. Re:standards by karb · · Score: 1, Funny

    Primary school?

    Take your kilogram and go home. We're happy with our slugs here in the good old U.S. of A.

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    Jack Valenti and the MPAA are to technology as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone

  5. What this means to drug dealers! by The+Slashdolt · · Score: 2, Funny

    So now if I want to buy a kilo of cocaine, some dealer's gonna have to walk up to some two story tall machine and poor in the coke until it's 1 kilogram?

    This should be GREAT for police officers. Just look for two story tall electronic kilogram machines to bust all the coke dealers.

    --
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  6. Re:well duh by MouseR · · Score: 5, Funny

    A gram is not a measurment of weight.

    It's a measurement of THC ...

  7. Re:Just a different was of measuring it by Tackhead · · Score: 2, Funny
    > > Wouldn't we have to throw them a dictionary first?
    >
    > If the dictionary weighs exactly one kilogram, we could kiil two birds with one stone... :-)

    ...yeah, but what if they're descended from critters that look like birds? Wouldn't that seriously piss them off?

  8. Re:Of course it never weighs the same... by room101 · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...if you want to determine the mass of a small object, how do you do it? Odds are really good you're going to weigh it in some manner, and divide by 9.8 m/s^2.

    Actaully, most high-schools have this new high-tech thing that actually measures mass. It's called a beam balance. You have some known quantity on one side, and your unknown on the other, then you compare the two. Really revolutionary!

    Also, 9.8 m/s^2 is only at sea-level. Raise your hand if you live a sea-level? That's what I thought.

    --
    room101 -- how much can you stand before they break you?
    (they always break you eventually)
  9. Buncha science sissies by rho · · Score: 3, Funny

    There's a guy on the corner what can measure out quarter and half ounces with amazing consistancy... dunno why they have to go to all that trouble, when they could hire this guy cheaper.

    Betcha if scientists were wont to shoot NIST people if their measurement vehicle was wonky because NIST's dumbell was off, you'd see some pretty accurate measuring going on over there...

    --
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