Buzz
While most people are well-acquainted with standard units like inches, pounds, and seconds, there exist a plethora of lesser-known and often bizarre units of measurement. Some are humorous, others hold significant weight, and all are undeniably strange in their own right.
10. The Wales and The Belgium
The British have a rich tradition of using quirky and imaginative units of measurement, often to describe size in relatable terms. In media, terms like 'bus length,' 'football pitch,' and 'Olympic swimming pool' are frequently used. Among the most unusual are the 'Wales' and the 'Belgium.' The 'Wales' unit refers to the land area roughly equivalent to the size of the country, covering about 20,000 square kilometers (or 8,000 square miles).
Originating from the days of the British Empire, this unit was designed to convey the size of various geographical regions in a way that would be easily understood by the general public. For example, when the United States entered the Vietnam War, the British media introduced the country as a 'Southeast Asian nation that is 14 times the size of Wales.'
When Britain became part of the European Union, the 'Wales' unit was substituted with the 'Belgium.' This country is 1.5 times the size of Wales, serving as a similarly easy-to-grasp unit of measurement. Additionally, 'Belgium' has a more international appeal.
9. The Banana Equivalent Dose
There are various methods to measure radiation, with most units named after scientists such as Geiger, Roentgen, or Sievert. However, one of the more unusual units is the 'banana equivalent dose.'
Each banana you eat contains a minuscule amount of radiation. In fact, this is approximately 0.1 microsieverts (a sievert is the standard unit for measuring the biological impact of radiation). While this is harmless, it provides an easy way to compare abstract radiation values. For example, to absorb the same amount of radiation as the Fukushima disaster in Japan, you'd need to consume 76 million bananas.
The banana equivalent dose (BED) may be the first ever unit of measurement coined by a comic. It began as a surprisingly well-researched comparison chart in the popular webcomic XKCD. Since then, it has been adopted by major outlets like Forbes and BBC due to its simplicity and accessibility.
8. The Crab
While a 'crab' might seem like a unit for measuring shellfish or even a medical condition, it has nothing to do with arthropods. Instead, 'crabs' and their smaller counterparts, 'millicrabs,' are used to express the intensity of radiation emitted by sources in outer space.
The unexpected name originates from the Crab Nebula, the expansive remnant of a long-gone supernova, which is renowned for being an especially powerful and consistent source of space X-rays. Much like the original meter stick that was used to define the metric system until 1960, the Crab Nebula serves as a reference point for measuring space radiation.
In recent times, scientists have discovered that its radiation isn't as constant as originally believed, leading to uncertainty about the Crab Nebula's credibility as a consistent measurement unit.
7. The Beard Second
The realms of physics and engineering are infamous for their use of a variety of measurement systems, some of which are quite bizarre. The 'beard second' is one of the more unusual ones. It’s a humorous (yet popular) unit of small length, defined by the distance an average beard hair grows in one second.
The beard second is one of many units of measurement inspired by (and poking fun at) the light year, which is the distance light travels in one year. Its exact measurement is difficult to pin down because there’s no universally accepted definition of a 'standard beard.' Nonetheless, the beard second is commonly estimated to be about 5 nanometers (nm), based on the assumption that a 'standard' beard grows approximately 15 centimeters (6 inches) per year and that a year contains roughly 31.5 million seconds.
6. ASTA Pungency Units
Most people are familiar with the Scoville scale, which gauges the spiciness of chili peppers. However, the Scoville scale has its inaccuracies, prompting professionals to dismiss it in favor of the ASTA pungency units. This scale measures the heat of a pepper using a method known as liquid chromatography, which offers a more precise rating than the Scoville scale. That said, since the Scoville scale is more widely recognized and standardized, the ASTA scale is primarily used to assess the color of pepper products. This is essential because the richness of a chili powder’s red color often correlates with its quality (and price).
5. The Sydharb
For those who have visited Australia, there is a curious unit that appears in both official papers and casual chats: the sydharb. This odd term measures a large volume of water, derived from the size of Sydney Harbor. While not commonly used outside Australia, it's akin to the use of Wales or Belgium when measuring land area.
A single sydharb represents the water capacity of Sydney Harbor—approximately 562,000 megaliters at high tide. Predictably, this measurement hasn't gained widespread use beyond the borders of Australia.
4. Furlong, Firkin, And Fortnight
Unusual measurement units often emerge from jokes or the eccentric ideas of individuals that unexpectedly gain popularity. The Furlong, Firkin, and Fortnight System (FFF) stands apart: it is a rare, entirely arbitrary system that pokes fun at other measurement systems. It revolves around three primary units: the furlong for length (200 meters or 220 yards), the firkin for mass (40 kilograms or 90 pounds), and the fortnight for time (1.2 million seconds or two weeks). While the fortnight is based on an old English unit, the others are purposefully absurd.
Although the three primary units of the system (and their many derivatives) are mostly a playful commentary on the absurdity of measurement systems, they do find some actual use. “Furlongs per fortnight” and “firkins per fortnight” are inside jokes that signify “any obscure unit.” The microfortnight (1.2096 seconds) is sometimes used in computing alongside more traditional time units, often as a humorous reference. For example, Google’s converter function can handle the microfortnight.
3. Barn
If there’s ever been a unit that sounds as though it must be related to farming, the 'barn' is certainly the one. The name alone evokes visions of agriculture and cattle farming, but this couldn’t be further from its actual meaning. A barn is a unit used in particle physics, along with its related units, the femtobarn and inverse femtobarn, to measure how many particles hit a detector during collider experiments.
The barn was first utilized in June 1943, when it made its debut in reports from the secret Los Alamos laboratory. The name 'barn' was chosen because alternative suggestions, such as 'Oppenheimer' and 'Bethe,' were found to be impractical. Since the scientists who conceived the idea were from rural backgrounds, the term 'barn' was spontaneously chosen, and the name stuck.
2. The Erlang
The erlang is a ubiquitous unit of measurement, often encountered in daily life, though most people are unaware of it. Each moment we spend on a phone call contributes to the erlang counter; this unit is employed to gauge telecommunications traffic. One erlang represents one hour of continuous traffic per voice path. Erlang metrics play a crucial role in helping engineers analyze telecom traffic patterns and design robust networks that can handle high call volumes.
The term 'erlang' is named after Agner Klarup Erlang, a brilliant and eccentric engineer who single-handedly established the field of telephone network analysis.
1. Savart
Music, often seen as both beautiful and occasionally chaotic, has a surprising link to mathematics. In fact, when we consider the savart scale, the two become almost indistinguishable. This system revolves around the savart, a unit that represents 1/301 of an octave (the musical interval that separates two identical notes). If you're familiar with musical theory, the savart serves as a useful approximation in various contexts.
Despite its intricate obscurity, the savart was invented twice by two distinct individuals. The first was Joseph Sauveur in 1696, who introduced it under the name “eptameride” (a savart being 1/7 of a meride, a logarithmic interval scale he created). Later, in the 20th century, French physicist Félix Savart revived the idea and championed its usage, ultimately lending his name to the concept.
