Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Platinum-Iridium Standard Kilogram Slimming Down

Of course there are some troubled by global warming.

There are some troubled by high blood pressure becoming an issue even in CHILDREN.

But there are signs that the universe itself may be going goofy as the platinum-iridium standard kilogram, the very definition of mass in the metric system is LOSING WEIGHT.

Now, of course this thing, kept under a double bell jar and triple locks in France, is the actual STANDARD for mass, but, when compared to a number of close copies, it looks to have lost 50 micrograms over the years.

Now, mind you, 50 micrograms is about the weight of a FINGERPRINT, but could this mean that the laws of physics are CHANGING??

This could be bad, bad news.

Now, fortunately, there's a meeting planned for November where they are going to take up the possibility of basing mass on some universal physical property, much as the meter is ultimately derived from the speed of light, and the second is based upon the cycle of a cesium-133 atom.

But when 50 micrograms goes missing without a good explanation from the artifact that defines all the world's mass (and therefore weight), it's NEVER a good sign ...

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