Scientist vote to fix the world’s weight-loss problem
November is election time, and not only for voters in the United States. On November 16, hundreds of scientists will gather in Paris, France, for the most unusual election this year, if not this century. Maybe ever. The voting scientists won’t be choosing new leaders or passing new laws.
They’ll be voting on something more elementary: a definition.
If the vote passes, they’ll permanently change the meaning of the word kilogram. The change will help scientists and engineers measure more precisely. Experts have been preparing for this vote for a decade. It they have done their job, they’ll fix a looming problem — and the rest of the world won’t even notice.
“I will go, and I will vote,” says Peter Mohr. He’s a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Md. He is also to blame, at least partially, for the vote. Twenty years ago, Mohr helped write papers arguing that the kilogram needed a new definition.
He expects the vote to pass with flying colors. “Hopefully there won’t be surprises,” he says. “But you never know.”
To understand why changing a kilogram is a big deal, you have to consider what the word means now. And to understand that, you have to visit a secure vault in Europe. This quiet, small room is opened only once a year.
Read more at Science News for Students, here.
Image: NIST