Buzz
These days, if you're looking to become famous, you have two main options: either appear in a leaked private video or make a discovery that challenges our ability to measure something, create a method to quantify it, develop a ranking system or categorize the measurements, and have your name linked to the resulting scale. Take the 'Frater Scale,' for example—essentially a more creative name for a 'top 10 list,' where the top-ranked item sits at number one on the Frater Scale. While not every scale is named after its inventor, many are. It seems that if something can be measured, someone will inevitably develop a scale to assess it. Here are ten unique scientific scales.
10. Kardashev Scale
The Kardashev Scale is a theoretical model used to gauge the technological development of a civilization. Though highly speculative when applied to actual civilizations, it looks at the total energy consumption of a civilization from a cosmic viewpoint, offering insight into its advancement.
The concept was first introduced in 1964 by the Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev. The scale consists of three distinct categories: Type I, II, and III. These categories are based on the energy a civilization can utilize and the extent of space colonization. A Type I civilization has mastered the resources of its home planet, Type II has control over its solar system, and Type III governs its galaxy. Science fiction often extends the scale to include Type IV, where a civilization has dominion over its universe, and sometimes even Type V, where it controls all the universes.
The initial version and the final draft of the scale had energy consumption values so drastically different that Kardashev revised it to include more precise figures in hundredths. As of 2010, humanity is estimated to be around 0.72 on the scale, with projections indicating we may reach Type I by 2100, Type II by 3100, and Type III somewhere between 100,000 to one million years from now.
9. Pyruvate Scale
The Pyruvate scale quantifies the pungency of onions and garlic, with units measured in um/gfw. Named after Pyruvic acid, the compound responsible for the tears we shed while cutting onions, the scale rates a standard onion at an eight. 'Sweet onions' are rated between two and three on the scale. The lower the score, the sweeter the onion is considered, with anything under five classified as a sweet onion.
Vidalia onions are classified as sweet, and must have a pyruvate score of 5.0 um/gfw or lower. The Supasweet variety, typically grown in Lincolnshire, England, falls between 1.5 and 2 on the scale. A typical brown onion usually ranges between 6 and 7. Factors like soil type, rainfall, and sunlight influence the pungency of onions and garlic, directly affecting their pyruvate scale rating.
8. Kinsey Scale
The Kinsey Scale is designed to categorize a person's sexual history or activity over time. It ranges from 0, indicating exclusively heterosexual, to 6, signifying exclusively homosexual, with 3 representing an equal balance between heterosexual and homosexual (or bisexual). Both the Male and Female volumes of the Kinsey Reports also included an 'X' grade for asexuality.
When introducing the scale, Kinsey stated: 'Males do not represent two discrete populations, heterosexual and homosexual. It is fundamental of taxonomy that nature seldom deals in discrete categories. The living world is a continuum in each and every one of its aspects.' Today, many sexologists view the Kinsey scale as too simplistic, arguing that sexual orientation and identity are far more complex and varied.
7. Forel-Ule Scale
Have you ever gazed out at a lake or the ocean and admired the water's vibrant color? The deep blues, the aquamarine, the emerald greens. But just how emerald is that water, really? Well, naturally, there’s a scale for that. The Forel-Ule Scale is a system used to estimate the color of bodies of water, a tool often employed in limnology and oceanography. Developed by François-Alphonse Forel and later refined by German limnologist Willi Ule, this scale utilizes various inorganic compounds such as ammonia, copper sulfate, and neutral potassium chromate to create a palette of colors in numerically labeled vials (00-21). These are compared to the color of the water, yielding a color index that offers insight into the water's transparency and helps categorize biological activity. The color gradations align with the hues of open sea and lake water, as viewed from land or a boat.
To make this process more accessible, the color samples were placed onto a disk, providing observers with a simple method to compare the water’s color to a known value. This also gave someone the chance to immortalize their name in the process. Enter the Secchi disk, created in 1865 by Pietro Angelo Secchi. This circular disk is used to measure water transparency in oceans and lakes. Mounted on a pole or line, it’s lowered into the water. The depth at which the disk’s pattern disappears is recorded as the water's transparency, known as the Secchi depth, which is linked to water turbidity.
Though once a useful tool, the Forel-Ule Scale has become somewhat outdated due to its imprecision, making it rare in contemporary research. It has been replaced by the Platinum-Cobalt Scale. Introduced in 1892 by chemist Allen Hazen, for reasons now unclear, Hazen chose not to name it the 'Hazen Scale.' This index was originally developed to measure pollution levels in wastewater, but over time, it has become a standard for comparing the intensity of yellow-tinted samples. It specifically targets the color yellow and is based on dilutions of a 500 ppm platinum cobalt solution.
6. Palermo and Torino Scale
Earth has long been vulnerable to asteroid and extraterrestrial object impacts. A visit to Meteor Crater in Arizona reveals the immense destruction caused by such cosmic events. It is even believed that the extinction of the dinosaurs was the result of a massive asteroid collision with Earth. But how likely is it that Earth will be struck by an asteroid tomorrow? If such an event were to happen, how much damage should we expect? And how worried should we be about a potential cataclysmic event? Thankfully, there exists a scale to assess both the probability and consequences of these events. The Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale was created to help scientists categorize and prioritize potential asteroid impact risks across different time frames, energy levels, and probabilities.
Values on the Palermo Scale that are below -2 indicate that the event is unlikely to have significant consequences, while values between -2 and 0 signal that the event should be monitored closely. Events with positive Palermo Scale values suggest a heightened level of concern. The scale compares the likelihood of a potential impact to the average risk posed by objects of similar size or larger over the years leading up to the potential event. This average risk is referred to as the background risk. The scale is logarithmic, meaning, for example, a Palermo Scale value of -2 means the event is only 1% as likely as a random background event, a value of 0 indicates the event is equally likely as the background risk, and a value of +2 suggests the event is 100 times more likely than a random impact of a comparable size. Still confused?
The Torino Scale was designed to help the public understand the risks associated with an asteroid or comet approaching Earth. This scale, which ranges from 0 to 10, factors in both the expected impact energy and the probability of the event occurring. The Palermo Scale, on the other hand, is used by experts to assess the level of concern for a potential impact, offering a more detailed evaluation. The Palermo Scale is especially useful for evaluating less threatening events that are classified as Torino Scale 0, as nearly all of the detected potential impacts fall under this category.
Because the Torino Scale often results in nearly all asteroids being rated at zero, the Palermo Scale was introduced as a way to classify potential asteroid impact events, even those that are unlikely to occur. The takeaway here is that even scientific scales can open the door for the creation of new ones, offering an opportunity for individuals to have their name attached to a scale.
5. Bortle Scale
If you live in a city and occasionally venture into rural areas, you might be struck by the sight of bright lights in the sky that aren't the moon. These are stars, and in urban areas, light pollution often obscures many of them. However, under perfect dark-sky conditions, one can see the Milky Way and thousands of stars visible to the human eye. How many stars can you see in a truly dark sky? The Yale Bright Star Catalog lists the ‘naked-eye visible stars’ as those with a magnitude of 6.5 or brighter, totaling 9,110 stars. Of course, not all of these stars are visible from every location on Earth. Whether you can see them depends on your hemisphere, your location, and the extent of light pollution. This is where the Bortle Scale comes in.
The Bortle Dark-Sky Scale is a nine-point numeric system that rates the brightness of the night sky and stars (naked-eye and stellar limiting magnitude) at a specific location. It measures how well celestial objects can be observed and how much light pollution or skyglow interferes with these observations. John E. Bortle created this scale and introduced it in the February 2001 issue of Sky & Telescope magazine to help amateur astronomers compare the darkness of different observing locations. The scale ranges from Class 1, representing the darkest skies on Earth, to Class 9, representing heavily light-polluted inner-city skies. Class 1 skies are color-coded black, while a typical truly dark sky is rated Class 2 and color-coded grey. A rural sky with good visibility is rated Class 3 and color-coded blue. City skies with significant light pollution are rated Classes 8 or 9 and color-coded white.
One of the prime locations for stargazing on the east coast of the United States is Cherry Springs State Park, situated in northern Pennsylvania. This park stands apart from most urban areas, offering a rare opportunity to experience pristine dark skies free from the interference of light pollution. It's one of the few places on the east coast where you can enjoy excellent conditions for viewing the night sky. Before visiting, you can use an online tool to check the predicted weather and sky conditions. Visit here to see the Bortle Dark Sky Scale in action and plan your stargazing experience accordingly.
4. Ulmer Scale
The Ulmer Scale, created by veteran entertainment journalist James Ulmer, is a 100-point system used to assess an actor's importance to a film production, especially in terms of securing financing and getting the project off the ground. This scale also takes into account factors such as the actor's past performance in terms of box office success or failure, versatility, professionalism, and willingness to travel and promote the film. Will Smith ranked at the top of the 2009 A-list, leading the list of top stars.
In common parlance, outside the entertainment industry, the term 'A-list celebrity' typically refers to someone with high social status or significant public admiration. In recent years, this label has expanded to include people in the limelight from various fields, including socialites who frequently appear in the media. Meanwhile, individuals who are somewhat less prominent or emerging figures like teen idols are often referred to as 'B-list' celebrities. The lowest tier on the Ulmer Scale is the 'C-list,' which is used to describe lesser-known but recognizable figures, often actors who play memorable but minor roles. An article from Entertainment Weekly describes C-list celebrities as 'that guy (or sometimes that girl), the easy-to-remember but hard-to-name character actor.'
Although the term 'D-list' is not formally included in the Ulmer Scale, it is commonly used to refer to individuals whose celebrity status is so limited that they are mostly recognized for their roles as celebrities on reality TV shows.
3. Bristol Stool Scale
The Bristol Stool Scale, also called the Bristol Stool Chart, is a clinical tool that categorizes the form of human feces into seven distinct types. Sometimes referred to as the 'Meyers Scale' in the UK, it was developed by Heaton at the University of Bristol and first published in the Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology in 1997. The stool's characteristics are influenced by how long it remains in the colon.
The seven types of stool are:
Type 1: Hard, separate lumps resembling nuts, difficult to pass Type 2: Sausage-shaped but lumpy Type 3: Sausage-like, though cracked on the surface Type 4: Smooth and soft, like a sausage or snake Type 5: Soft blobs with distinct edges, easily passed Type 6: Fluffy pieces with ragged edges, resulting in a mushy stool Type 7: Watery, completely liquid, with no solid pieces
Types 1 and 2 signal constipation, while 3 and 4 are considered 'ideal stools,' with 4 being the easiest to pass. Types 5–7 are more akin to diarrhea.
2. Hynek Scale
In the field of ufology, a close encounter refers to an event where someone observes an unidentified flying object. This term and its classification system were introduced by astronomer and UFO researcher J. Allen Hynek, initially outlined in his 1972 book, 'The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry.' The Hynek Scale initially defined three types of encounters, which Hynek believed could be scientifically substantiated. Sightings that occur more than 500 feet away from the observer are categorized as 'Daylight Discs,' 'Nocturnal Lights,' or 'Radar/Visual Reports.' Sightings within a 500-foot range are further classified as various types of 'close encounters.' Hynek and others argued that for a close encounter to be credible, it should occur within 500 feet to minimize the likelihood of misidentifying conventional aircraft or known phenomena.
The Hynek Scale gained widespread recognition after it influenced aspects of the 1977 film 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind,' which was named after the third level of the scale. The Hynek Scale categorizes close encounters as follows:
First Kind – These are close encounters, less than 500 feet, where humans witness aerial objects displaying attributes that are beyond the capabilities of known human technology. Second Kind – Encounters in which physical evidence remains, such as scorched ground, radiation, animal disturbances, or interference with radio and mechanical equipment. Third Kind – These involve the observation of what Hynek referred to as 'animate beings' seen alongside a UFO sighting. Hynek intentionally used the broad term 'animate beings' to describe entities associated with UFOs without jumping to conclusions about their origin or nature. He did not necessarily consider these beings to be 'extraterrestrials' or 'aliens.' Hynek expressed skepticism about such reports but acknowledged their prevalence, feeling it was his scientific duty to include them. While Hynek’s original scale had only three types of encounters, others have added four more, but Hynek likely would not have supported these additions, as they cannot be studied scientifically (Hynek was a pioneering advocate for using the scientific method in UFO research). Fourth Kind – Human abduction Fifth Kind – Human-initiated communication with extraterrestrials. Sixth Kind – Injury or death resulting from interaction with aliens. Seventh Kind – The creation of a human/alien hybrid through mating between humans and aliens.
1. Hamilton-Norwood Scale
Male pattern baldness is commonly assessed using the Hamilton-Norwood scale, which spans stages I to VII. This scale was first proposed by Dr. James Hamilton in the 1950s and later modified by Dr. O’Tar Norwood in the 1970s. Female pattern baldness, on the other hand, is generally evaluated using the Ludwig scale, which ranges from stages I to III. One website rates various celebrities based on the Hamilton-Norwood scale. Some examples include:
Ben Affleck – II Charlie Sheen – II-III Bono – III Prince William – III-IV Nick Cave – IV Paul Simon – V-VI Phil Collins – VI
