Shrinking Kilogram Bewilders Physicists

September 12, 2007 By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press Writer Shrinking Kilogram Bewilders Physicists (AP)

Physicist Richard Davis of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, sits next to a copy of a 118-year-old cylinder that has been the international prototype for the metric mass, in his office in Sevres, southwest of Paris, Wednesday, Sept. 12,007. Davis said the reference kilo appears to have lost 50 micrograms compared to the average of dozens of copies. The kilogram's inconstancy illustrates how technological progress is leaving science's most basic measurements in its dust. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)

(AP) -- A kilogram just isn't what it used to be. The 118-year-old cylinder that is the international prototype for the metric mass, kept tightly under lock and key outside Paris, is mysteriously losing weight - if ever so slightly.

Content from The Associated Press expires 15 days after original publication date. For more information about The Associated Press, please visit www.ap.org .

Similar stories from PHYSorg:

We spend more on products with detailed nutritional information

Nov 06, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

New study further disputes notion that amputee runners gain advantage from protheses

Nov 04, 2009 | 5 / 5 (4) | 5

Chinese agencies fight for control of Web game

Nov 04, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

Obesity significantly cuts odds of successful pregnancy

Nov 03, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

Jumping on the bandwagon: Introducing the next generation multi-band radio to emergency responders

Nov 02, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

Rate this story - 4.4 /5 (120 votes)

rank
1
2
3
4
5

view popular

Other News

Stars Fueled by Dark Matter Could Hold Secrets to the Universe

Physics / General Physics

Nov 03, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (50) | 40

(PhysOrg.com) -- The first stars in the universe may have been very different from the stars we see today, yet they may hold clues to understanding some of the mysterious features of the universe. These "dark ...

Second Law of Thermodynamics May Explain Economic Evolution

Physics / General Physics

Nov 02, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (29) | 28

(PhysOrg.com) -- Terms such as the "invisible hand," laissez-faire policy, and free-market principles suggest that economic growth and decline in capitalist societies seem to be somehow self-regulated. Now, ...

High-performance plasmas may make reliable, efficient fusion power a reality

Physics / Plasma Physics

Nov 02, 2009 | 4.7 / 5 (37) | 31

In the quest to produce nuclear fusion energy, researchers from the DIII-D National Fusion Facility have recently confirmed long-standing theoretical predictions that performance, efficiency and reliability ...

Solving Teapot Effect

Physics / General Physics

Nov 02, 2009 | 4.9 / 5 (11) | 10

(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of scientists from France have worked out why teapots dribble at low flow rates, and how to stop them. The effect is called the "teapot effect", and solving it could finally put an ...

Laser accelerated protons to the highest energies so far

Researchers use trident laser to accelerate protons to record energies

Physics / General Physics

Nov 02, 2009 | 4.6 / 5 (5) | 10

An international team of physicists at Los Alamos National Laboratory has succeeded in using intense laser light to accelerate protons to energies never before achieved. Using this technique, scientists can ...