Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Hella Proposed as Official Big Number

Soon the word "hella" might not be compared with California surfersas most as with scientists in lab coats. A production tyro ispetitioning to supplement "hella" to the International System of Units (SI) asthe central nomination of 10 to the 27th power, or a trilliontrillions.

Austin Sendek, a University of California, Davisundergraduate, has collected roughly 40,000 fans on the Facebook pagedevoted to his "movement."

Many numbers have such prefixes, suchas "centi" for 0.01 (or 10 to the reduction 2nd power), or "micro" for 10 to the reduction 6th power. On the incomparable side of things, "giga," for example,represents 10 to the 9th power, or 1 billion. But so far, the largestofficial nomination is "yotta," for 10 to the 24th power.

"Inour universe of augmenting earthy recognition and initial precision,this series is no longer a acceptable top firm in systematic nomenclature," Sendek wrote in his aspiring petition.

Tobecome official, "hella" would have to burst by utterly a fewbureaucratic hoops. It would have to pass by the ConsultativeCommittee for Units (CCU), one of 10 advisory committees of theInternational Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM). If the CCUrecommends it the CIPM, that house contingency afterwards confirm either to advancethe means to the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM), theofficial management that can have changes to the SI system.

That general organization, formed in France, includes members from 81 countries.

"Ithink that for a series of reasons the a prolonged shot," pronounced Ben Stein, aspokesperson for the National Institute of Standards and Technology,the U.S. classification that handles measurements. "The sorts of thingsthey would cruise are: is it needed; does it supplement or revoke confusion;are the names unchanging with alternative names compared with the prefixes?"

Sendekargues that the name would respect the systematic contributions ofNorthern Californians, who have famously popularized the word "hella"to meant "a total lot."

"We hold that the SI complement can not usually redress their unwell prefix complement but additionally respect the systematic swell of Northern California by rigourously substantiating hella- as the prefix for 10^27," Sendek wrote.

AndStein conceded the name doesnt receptive to advice most crazier than a little of theother prefixes in the system, such as "zetta," "zepto" and "yocto."

"Ithink the essentially good that a tyro has shown initiative," Steintold LiveScience. "Hes helped lift recognition of units andmeasurements in science."

The apply to can be noticed here.

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