Standard bearers: why it's harder than you think to measure a metre

The Metre Convention is a treaty that codified the measurement of the metre and the kilogram. Signed on May 20th 1875 in Paris, it facilitated trade and underpinned the development of new technology. Accurate measurements are essential for innovation, but the way scientists perform those measurements has changed over time. Now, 150 years since the treaty was first signed, how are scientists improving measurement standards?

Hosts: The Economist’s Alok Jha and Gilead Amit. Contributors: JT Janssen, Andrew Lewis and Anne Curtis at Britain’s National Physical Laboratory. 

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