That 100-Watt light bulb you just bought for your living room lamp might never be the same again, thanks to researchers at the University of Ottawa.
That 100-Watt light bulb you just bought for your living room lamp might never be the same again, thanks to researchers at the University of Ottawa. Samuel Lemieux and his colleagues are working on a better, cheaper and more reliable way to measure the intensity of light, and their discovery could result in a new standard to measure its brightness.
One application of this discovery could lead to a superior classification of light bulbs, which is interesting, but quite mundane. In the scientific world and in labs across the globe, however, it could mean so much more.
We calibrate scales and make sure the whole world is on one system of measurement thanks to the International System of Units, which defines seven units of measure as a basic set from which all other SI units (SI for “Système international”) can be derived.
On May 20, 2019, the world’s top scientists will change one of those units: the kilogram. The 129 year-old standard, a platinum-iridium alloy cylinder named “Le Grand K”, will be replaced. The kilogram will now be attached to the Planck constant, a fundamental and universal concept in quantum mechanics that is immutable.
Continue reading at University of Ottawa.
Image via University of Ottawa.
