Weight of change: Kilogram shakeup confuses netizens

A vote by scientists to redefine the kilogram in terms of universal natural constants has brought about confusion online, as people joked about metric system measurements that few seemed to fully understand.

For over 130 years, the kilogram was physically represented by one very special lump of platinum. On Friday, the General Conference on Weights and Measures voted to redefine the unit based on the amount of electric current required to counteract the mass, making the last of the International System (SI) units based on universal constants rather than physical objects.

If this feels like it’s going a bit over your head… you’re not alone.

While those in the US may be confused by the term kilogram, rest assured, it’s all part of that pesky metric system used by the entire world (except for the US, Liberia and Myanmar, that is). The US measures for weight – Imperial pounds and ounces – remain entirely unaffected.

The vote to change the kilogram spells the demise of “Le Grand K” (the Great K), a platinum weight that has been kept in a French vault since 1889.

This is something many scientists have long advocated changing in favor of something that’s more, well, scientific. So overjoyed were the scientists that a number of people reportedly burst into tears of joy when the unanimous vote came in.

Social media was awash with general weight-related puns as the news broke.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean you can expect to find yourself facing a different number when you step on the weighing scales, or that your luggage allowance will increase. The difference in what makes a kilo a kilo will not be felt by ordinary people, or drug dealers.

It also doesn’t mean that they’re coming for our other SI measurements, like the kilometer (we hope). Not that this stopped many social media users from cracking jokes about miles and inches, which – in case metric users around the world are unaware – measure distance, not mass.

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