The metric system is growing. Here’s what you need to know
New prefixes will help researchers interpret exceedingly big and small numbers
![A photo of six old fashioned golden weight in a line from the smallest weight to the left and the biggest weight on the right, all on a black background](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/120222_db_metric_feat.jpg?fit=1030%2C580&ssl=1)
To handle an exponential growth in data, the metric system is getting its first update in three decades Based on the measuring system's new prefixes, Earth’s mass is about six ronnagrams. That’s a six followed by 27 zeroes.
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