The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) has formally approved the use of four new SI prefixes to meet the growing needs of science, computing and the increasing amount of online data and to prevent the adoption of unofficial prefix names. The approval of the new prefixes was one of the resolutions of the 27th General Conference on Weights and Measures, which took place on 15-18 November 2022.
Continue reading “First new SI prefixes for over 30 years”Tag: SI
How metric units fit together
After celebrating the arrival of decimal currency in the UK 50 years ago, Metric Views now goes back to basics on decimal measurement. No, we shall not be looking at nautical distances or Gunter’s chain! Continue reading “How metric units fit together”
Major shake-up of the SI
One of our regular contributors, Ronnie Cohen, has followed up on Martin Vlietstra’s article about the “new kilogram”, with a summary of the forthcoming changes to SI. It proved difficult to create some of the symbols used by SI in the text editor used by Metric Views, and readers who require the full story may wish to visit https://www.bipm.org .
Is perfect the enemy of good?
Recent experience in France and Greece and a comment last week by Charlie P on this site has prompted us to ask if it would be better if supporters of metric measures were less pedantic.
The new £50 note
It was announced today that the new polymer £50 note will celebrate the UK’s achievements in science, and will feature a prominent British scientist. Nominations from the public are invited.
cm versus mm
As the UK’s metric changeover drags on with no end in sight, we consider if the advantages of encouraging widespread use of the centimetre outweigh the risks.
Smart meters, or not?
Readers may have seen a recent TV programme that was highly critical of the energy smart meter “roll out”. Some of you may now be wondering why a nation that made a mess of the simple task of adopting a modern measurement system is now embarking on a complex and expensive technology project of questionable value.
Planned upgrades to the SI
We kick off 2017 with an article for metric geeks.