NIST to stabilize kilogram standard.

Mass is the alone one of the seven basic measurement standards that is still defined in bourns of a physical artifact -- a century-old platinum-iridium cylinder weighing individual kilogram that is housed in a special vault in France. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is implementing an electronic kilogram throw that aims to stabilize mass-related measurements above the next several decades through defining mass through electrical and other electronic standards (such as lasers).

At the heart of NIST's Electronic Kilogram throw out is a two-story-high apparatus that