THROUGHOUT MUCH of human history, man has been the measure of many, if not all, things. Lengths were divided up into feet, palms, spans and smaller units derived from the human hand. Other measures ...

The United States is one of just three countries that "prefers" imperial measurements over the international metric standard. The motivation why has less to do with official policy than you might ...

I was at the supermarket recently when I took note of something my eyes had passed thousands of times before. The cans of my favorite sodas were 12 ounces, while the bottles were 2 liters. It caught ...

Wondering why the United States measures things in inches and pounds? The answer will definitely surprise you All countries use the metric system to varying degrees. Most of the world has adopted the ...

Metric units have conquered the globe, but in the US and the UK, their presence has become part of a culture war between ‘traditional’ and ‘progressive’ values. is a senior reporter who has covered AI ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. While most nations use the metric system—those units of decimals ...

For over a century, a golf-ball sized cylinder locked in a vault in Sèvres, France, has defined the true mass of a kilogram (2.2 pounds) for the entire planet. The International Prototype of the ...

For millennia, humans have turned to the sky to tell time. Our planet rotates once on its axis, and we’ve lived another day. We divide that day into smaller fractions: the hour, minute, and second.

In the age of big data, it is time to ensure that units are routinely documented for easy, unambiguous exchange of information. Robert Hanisch is the director of the Office of Data and Informatics at ...