Fundamental Constants Are the Future of Measurement. Can They Replace Artifacts for Measuring Isotopes?
This artist's interpretation intends to show small grains of a reference material disappearing or floating away. Also shown are two lasers, red and blue, which represent the two different colored lasers used by our instrument. Also visible are linear molecules of carbon dioxide (collections of three balls), CO 2. Credit: Creative and Printing Services In an essay titled “The end of artefacts, ” Nobel laureate and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) fellow William D. Phillips details how scientists came to realize the original vision of the metric system, or t...