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When鈥檚 a Kilogram Not a Kilogram?

Updating the kilogram.

Currently there is one kilogram, one kilogram to rule them all, one kilogram in confinement, one kilogram to measure them all and by its mass define them. Sorry鈥ut you get our gist, there is a literal kilogram in a vault in Paris. Only鈥s it actually a kilogram? That鈥檚 what scientists have been questioning for years and why this week they鈥檙e voting to change its definition to something altogether more accurate and less tangible that could pave the way for innovation.

Presenter/Producer: Lizzy McNeill

(The international kilogram prototype, a cylinder of platinum-iridium alloy at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) near Paris / Photo courtesy of BIPM.)

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9 minutes

Last on

Tue 20 Nov 2018 02:50GMT
91福利社 World Service

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