New measures for size, as world’s people surpass 8 billion

PARIS (AP) — What is bigger: A ronna or a quetta?

Scientists meeting outside of Paris on Friday — who have expanded the world’s measuring unit systems for the first time this century as the global population surges past 8 billion — have the answer.

Rapid scientific advances and vast worldwide data storage on the web, in smartphones and in the cloud mean that the very terms used to measure things in weight and size need extending too. And one British scientist led the push Friday to incorporate bold new, tongue-twisting prefixes on the gigantic and even the minuscule scale.

“Most people are familiar with prefixes like milli- as in milligram. But these are prefixes for the biggest and smallest levels ever measured,” Dr Richard Brown, head of Metrology at the U.K.’s National Physical Laboratory who proposed the four new prefixes, told The Associated Press.

“In the last 30 years, the datasphere has increased exponentially, and data scientists have realized they will no longer have words to describe the levels of storage. These terms are upcoming, the future,” he explained.

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There’s the gargantuan “ronna” (that’s 27 zeros after the one) and its big brother the “quetta” – (that’s 30 zeros).

Their ant-sized counterparts are the “ronto” (27 zeros after the decimal point), and the “quecto” (with 30 zeros after the decimal point) -- representing the smaller numbers needed for quantum science and particle physics.

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The conference, which takes place every four years in France, is the supreme authority of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. The new terms take effect immediately, marking the first time since 1991 that any new additions have been made.

Brown said the new terms also make it easier to describe things scientists already know about — reeling off a list of the smallest and biggest things discovered by humankind.

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Did you know that the mass of an electron is one rontogram? And that a byte of data on a mobile increases the phone’s mass by one quectogram?

Further from home, the planet Jupiter is two just quettagrams in mass. While, incredibly, “the diameter of the entire observable universe is just one ronnameter,” Brown said.

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He explained how the new names were not chosen at random: The first letter of the new prefixes had to be one not used in other prefixes and units.

“There were only the letters ‘r’ and ‘q’ that weren’t already taken. Following that, there’s a precedent that they sound similar to Greek letters and that big number prefixes end with an ‘a’ and smaller numbers with an ‘o,’” he added.

“It was high time. (We) need new words as things expand,” Brown said. “In just a few decades, the world has become a very different place.”

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Stevicus said:

New measures for size, as world's people surpass 8 billion | AP News









The planet Jupiter is just two quettagrams in mass. That doesn't sound like very much, does it?

The mass of an electron is one rontogram. That must be why I can't reach the perfect weight.



It seems they didn't even give consideration to making "bazillion" and "gazillion" into real, actual numbers.

What do you think about these new names for numbers?

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Stevicus said:

The planet Jupiter is just two quettagrams in mass. That doesn't sound like very much, does it?

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exchemist said:

Once you get to these sorts of numbers of zeros it becomes meaningless to the average person.

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Stevicus said:

What do you think about these new names for numbers?

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It Aint Necessarily So said:

Yep. I remember the Republicans complaining about how much was spent impeaching Clinton, which was about $50 million dollars. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan were estimated to cost about $5 trillion combined. These are pretty much the same to most people, but figured out per capita (using 280 million Americans), that's about 18 cents each for the first, and closer to $18,000 per capita for the latter.

Notice that these piles are also becoming taller as well as deeper and wider.



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Alien826 said:

Sounds like "quetta" lot to me!

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It Aint Necessarily So said:

Yep. I remember the Republicans complaining about how much was spent impeaching Clinton, which was about $50 million dollars. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan were estimated to cost about $5 trillion combined. These are pretty much the same to most people, but figured out per capita (using 280 million Americans), that's about 18 cents each for the first, and closer to $18,000 per capita for the latter.

Notice that these piles are also becoming taller as well as deeper and wider.



View attachment 68684

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