Page 24 - aruba-today-20181117

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Saturday 17 November 2018

Take a weight off: Tears, joy as kilo gets historic update

By JOHN LEICESTER been worrying us, I think, for
Associated Press maybe 15 years or more is
VERSAILLES, France (AP) just how vulnerable the sys-
— In a historic vote, more tem is, by depending just
than 50 nations unanimous- on that one little piece of
ly approved an overhaul of platinum-iridium."
the international measure- The redefined kilo is ex-
ment system that underpins pected to allow for more
global trade and other hu- accurate measurements of
man endeavors, uniting Fri- very, very small or very, very
day behind new definitions large masses and help ush-
for metric units such as the er in innovations in science,
kilogram in a way they fail industry, climate study and
to do on many other issues. other fields. In humankind's
Scientists, for whom the efforts to quantify and un-
update represented de- derstand the world, stretch-
cades of work, clapped, ing back centuries to when
cheered and even wept ancient Babylonians mea-
as delegates gathered in sured mass with stones, the
Versailles one by one said vote marked a major mile-
"yes" or "oui" to the change, stone, enthused scientists
hailed as a revolution in agreed. "Those units, those
how humanity measures constants chosen now, in-
and quantifies its world. clude everything we know,
The redefinition of the ki- In this photo taken Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018., a replica of the International Prototype Kilogram everything we have always
is pictured at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, in Sevres, near Paris.
logram, the globally ap- Associated Press known and provide that
proved unit of mass, was springboard for us to go
the mostly hotly anticipat- take effect May 20. and the spares," will be re- stunning follies, including pursue those things that we
ed change. For more than Scientists at the meeting tired but not forgotten. Sci- two world wars. don't know," said Jon Pratt
a century, the kilogram has were giddy with excite- entists want to keep study- Unlike a physical object, of the U.S. National Institute
been defined as the mass ment: some even sported ing them to see whether the formula for the kilo, now of Standards and Technol-
of a cylinder of platinum- tattoos on their forearms their masses change over also known as "the electric ogy. He said Friday's gath-
iridium alloy kept in a high- that celebrated the sci- time. The update will have kilo," cannot pick up par- ering "was just leaving me
security vault in France. ence. no discernable impact for ticles of dust, decay with in a puddle of tears."
That artefact, nicknamed Nobel prize winner William most people. Bathroom time or be dropped and Updated definitions for the
"Le Grand K," has been the Phillips called the update scales won't suddenly get damaged, but will be eas- ampere, kelvin and mole
world's sole true kilogram "the greatest revolution in kinder and kilos and grams ier to share. also were approved Friday.
since 1889 . measurement since the won't change in supermar- "If we stay where we are, Humanity uses seven main
Now, with the vote, the ki- French revolution," which kets. But the new formula- and someone did acciden- measurements units: the
logram and all of the other ushered in the metric sys- based definition for the tally drop the kilogram or if meter for length, the kilo-
main measurement units tem of meters and kilo- kilogram will have multiple there was a contamina- gram for mass, the second
will be defined using nu- grams. advantages over the pre- tion that we couldn't con- for time, the ampere for
merical values that fit hand- The Grand K and its six of- cision-crafted metal lump trol, then the whole system electric current, the kelvin
ily onto a wallet card. Those ficial copies, kept together that set the standard from has got no head. We're in for temperature, the mole
numbers were read to the in the same safe on the the 19th century to the 21st, chaos," said Barry Inglis, for the amount of a sub-
national delegates before outskirts of Paris and col- through periods of stunning a scientist from Australia. stance and the candela for
they voted. The update will lectively known as the "heir human achievement and "That's the thing that's really luminous intensity.q

Norway says Russia jammed GPS signal during NATO drill

By JAN M. OLSEN and JARI and Nov. 7 from the Rus- northern Lapland region. reached Tuesday for com- signals over a broad area.
TANNER sian forces" on the Arctic Finland's state Air Naviga- ment on Norway's claim. The northern Arctic regions
Associated Press Kola peninsula. tion Services issued a warn- The Kremlin on Monday of Finland's Lapland and
HELSINKI (AP) — The Nor- NATO's huge exercise Tri- ing to civilian air traffic ear- denied involvement in the Norway's Finnmark are ad-
wegian Defense Ministry dent Juncture that includ- lier last week. Finnish GPS disturbance. jacent to Russia's Kola Pen-
said Tuesday that Russian ed soldiers from 31 coun- Without providing any fur- "We know nothing about insula, which is home to
forces in the Arctic dis- tries, was staged in Norway ther evidence, Sipila said Russia's possible involve- Russia's Northern Fleet with
turbed GPS location sig- from Oct. 25 to Nov. 7. Fin- Sunday that neighboring ment in those GPS failures," major naval and subma-
nals during a recent large land and Sweden, which Russia may have been to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry rine bases and other Rus-
NATO drill in Norway. aren't NATO members, blame. "It's possible Rus- Peskov said, according to sian military installations.
The ministry said that Nor- also took part in the drill. sia was the disrupting TASS news agency. "There Asked about Finland's
way's Foreign Ministry earli- The jamming of the loca- party," Sipila said in an in- is a trend to blame all mor- claims, NATO Secretary-
er had raised the issue with tion signals isn't believed terview with Finnish pub- tal sins on Russia." Russia is General Jens Stoltenberg
Russian authorities. to have caused any acci- lic broadcaster YLE. Finn- known to have substantial told reporters Monday that
In an email Tuesday to The dents. Over the weekend, ish President Sauli Niinisto capabilities for electronic cyber and electronic war-
Associated Press, the minis- Finnish Prime Minister Juha has called for a thorough warfare. Experts say it has fare are becoming more
try said it "was aware that Sipila said his country's GPS investigation into the in- in recent years invested and more widespread,
that jamming has been re- location signals were in- cident. The Russian De- heavily in technology that "therefore we take all these
corded between Oct. 16 tentionally disrupted in the fense Ministry couldn't be can affect GPS location issues very seriously."q