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 ...

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 ...

Scientists voted on Friday to redefine it based on electric currents. A replica of the International Prototype Kilogram is pictured is seen at the 26th meeting of the General Conference on Weights and ...

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 ...

The kilogram is getting an update. No, your bathroom scales won’t suddenly become kinder and a kilo of fruit will still weigh a kilo. But the way scientists define the exact mass of a kilogram is ...

The official definition of a kilogram has been changing for well over a century, but this week it may be redefined for the final time. After years of debate and discussion, scientists from around the ...

Despite having weighed myself in kilograms for quite some time, I've never really contemplated exactly who or what decides what a kilogram is (other than, obviously, being 1,000 grams). But it turns ...

Redefinition of the kilogram will not make the kilogram more precise, but it will make it more stable. A physical object can lose or gain atoms over time, or be destroyed, but constants remain the ...

Recent studies have shown that the kilogram may need to go on a diet because it has gained tens of micrograms of mass from surface contamination. Recent studies have shown that the kilogram may need ...

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 ...

is a senior reporter who has covered AI, robotics, and more for eight years at The Verge. Update, May 20th, 2019, 10AM ET: This article was originally published in November 2018. As of May 20th, 2019, ...