Strong
04-03-2010, 06:00 AM
Telegraph - Scientists need bigger numbers (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/7352204/Hella-number-scientists-call-for-new-word-for-1000000000000000000000000000.html)
A campaign for "hella" to join the likes of "kilo", "mega" and "giga" as an internationally accepted prefix is attracting growing support.
Hella is North Californian slang for "very" or "a lot of". Mr Sendek and his supporters argue that its adoption would be a fitting honour for the state's impressive record of scientific research.
If the change is approved, the hella would be the first new SI prefix introduced since 1991, when the International Committee for Weights and Measures approved yotta and zetta (21 zeroes).
FULL LIST OF SI PREFIXES
10 = deca
100 = hecto
1,000 = kilo
1,000,000 = mega
1,000,000,000 = giga
1,000,000,000,000 = tera
1,000,000,000,000,000 = peta
1,000,000,000,000,000,000 = exa
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 = zetta
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 = yotta
HAVE YOUR SAY: WHAT WOULD YOU CALL THE NEW PREFIX?
I'm thinking jumbo or mammotha
A campaign for "hella" to join the likes of "kilo", "mega" and "giga" as an internationally accepted prefix is attracting growing support.
Hella is North Californian slang for "very" or "a lot of". Mr Sendek and his supporters argue that its adoption would be a fitting honour for the state's impressive record of scientific research.
If the change is approved, the hella would be the first new SI prefix introduced since 1991, when the International Committee for Weights and Measures approved yotta and zetta (21 zeroes).
FULL LIST OF SI PREFIXES
10 = deca
100 = hecto
1,000 = kilo
1,000,000 = mega
1,000,000,000 = giga
1,000,000,000,000 = tera
1,000,000,000,000,000 = peta
1,000,000,000,000,000,000 = exa
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 = zetta
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 = yotta
HAVE YOUR SAY: WHAT WOULD YOU CALL THE NEW PREFIX?
I'm thinking jumbo or mammotha