DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
PICTURE: A replica of Le Grand K inside its protective glass casing. PICTURE: Japs 88 (licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0)
• When is a kilogram not a kilogram? The answer is when it’s redefined. Representatives of more than 60 countries recently reportedly voted in favour of measuring a kilogram by an abstract constant in place of the small cylinder of titanium alloy, known as Le Grand K and held in a vault in Paris, which has set the standard since 1889. Over the decades, the metal lump has inexplicably lost a tiny amount of mass – about 20 billionths of a gram – meaning a tiny drop in what a kilogram actually weighs. To solve the issue and provide a constant measure, the gathered scientists have agreed to use the ‘Planck constant’ instead. The changes, which come into force next May, also affect the ampere, the kelvin and the mole.
• A giant wooden troll named Isak Hearthstone is reportedly headed for a new home after residents of the Colorado ski resort of Breckenridge complained he was attracting too many tourists. The 15 foot tall Isak, the work of Danish artist Thomas Dambo and part of a series of 40 trolls made out of recycled material around the world, was dismantled last week and originally that was, sadly, to be the end of the matter. But following an outcry, Dambo says he will now be rebuilding Isak in a new location. The work was originally installed in August to mark a hiking trail as part of the summer arts festival.
• Hmmm. Yoshitaka Sakurada, deputy chief of the Japanese Government’s cybersecurity strategy office and the minister in charge of the Olympic and Paralympic Games that Tokyo will host in 2020, has recently reportedly told the country’s Parliament that he’s never used a computer. Sakurada, responding to a question about whether he was computer literate, said: “Since the age of 25, I have instructed my employees and secretaries, so I don’t use computers myself.” OK.
