World's Roundest Object' May Provide New Definition Of Standard Kilogram (Video)

This is Fascinating stuff



most perfect sphere on Earth. Made from a single crystal of silicon 28 atoms, the object has been created by the Avogadro Project to help solve the longest running problem in measurement - how to define the kilogram.

www.huffingtonpost.com...

In a world where everything strives to be the best and the biggest, scientists behind The Avogadro Project in Australia have sought a surprising superlative: the world's roundest object.

And they aren't just doing it for bragging rights. Instead, the remarkable sphere may provide a solution to what's known as the "kilogram problem."

"If you were to blow up our spheres to the size of the Earth, you would see a small ripple in the smoothness of about 12 to 15 mm,

Details
Type : Demo
People : Dr Derek Muller
Location : Australia
Published : 2013
Filmed : 2013
Credits : Veritasium


Karl you have been defeated


And you Bowie, but you still win on the hair front

a reply to: Spacespider

The weight of the Platinum (Pt) Standard Kilogram changed over 50 micrograms because even Pt and Ir are not entirely stable atoms.

All matter decays…. interesting. Second law of thermodynamics.

a reply to: intrptr

Silicon is extremely stable though, and as they now have extremely accurate measurements for that isotope, this is actually a much better way of dictating the standard of our made up system of measurements.

I wonder if there are any experiments that you can utilize that damn near perfect sphere for.

a reply to: Spacespider

This doesn't sound right. I thought the spheres that made up the gyroscopes for the Gravity Probe - B experiment are actually the roundest objects ever made on Earth? These were made from quartz with a layer of Niobium.
As an aside, I find that reseacher girl very attractive.

Cheers,

Kratos

ETA: Also, we need to start teaching and using the metric system in the U.S. We use it all the time in the lab.

This was posted some time ago

www.abovetopsecret.com...

For some reason I can only imagine the scientist playing with that thing reading the future to their colleges

A few hundred k well spend

originally posted by: PhoenixOD
This was posted some time ago

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Wow! Almost a year to the date as well. Do people not use the search function on ATS, or does ATS have a crappy search function???

a reply to: Kratos40

I don't mind older threads being re created, I wouldn't have seen this unless it was bumped. They get buried pretty quick.

cool stuff s/f