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Why NIST Researchers Spent 10 Years Measuring Gravity
Physicists have been trying to measure the fundamental gravitation al constant for well over two centuries. The current accepted value of big G , as it’s known, is 6.67430 × 10 -11 cubic meters per kilogram per square second. It also has an uncertainty of ±0.00015 × 10 -11 m 3 /(kg s 2 ). As far as constants of the universe go, that’s very uncertain. Stephan Schlamminger Schlamminger is a physicist at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. Stephan Schlamminger recently completed a 10-year effort at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology to replicate an earlier measurement of big G from the International Bureau of Weights and Measures , or BIPM (located near Paris) that’s notably higher than most measurements. He spoke with IEEE Spectrum about why it took so long to get a number—6.67387 x 10 -11 m 3 /(kg s 2 )—and why it’s notably lower than the BIPM res
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Physicists have been trying to measure the fundamental gravitation al constant for well over two centuries. The current accepted value of big G , as it’s known, is 6.67430 × 10 -11 cubic meters per kilogram per square second. It also has an uncertainty of ±0.00015 × 10 -11 m 3 /(kg s 2 ). As far as constants of the universe go, that’s very uncertain. Stephan Schlamminger Schlamminger is a physicist at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. Stephan Schlamminger recently completed a 10-year effort at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology to replicate an earlier measurement of big G from the International Bureau of Weights and Measures , or BIPM (located near Paris) that’s notably higher than most measurements. He spoke with IEEE Spectrum about why it took so long to get a number—6.67387 x 10 -11 m 3 /(kg s 2 )—and why it’s notably lower than the BIPM res
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According to IEEE Spectrum’s linked report, Why NIST Researchers Spent 10 Years Measuring Gravity, Physicists have been trying to measure the fundamental gravitation al constant for well over two centuries. The current accepted value of big G , as it’s known, is 6.67430 × 10 -11 cubic meters per kilogram per square second. It also has an uncertainty of ±0.00015 × 10 -11 m 3 /(kg s 2 ). As far as constants of the universe go, that’s very uncertain. Stephan Schlamminger Schlamminger is a physicist at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. Stephan Schlamminger recently completed a 10-year effort at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology to replicate an earlier measurement of big G from the International Bureau of Weights and Measures , or BIPM (located near Paris) that’s notably higher than most measurements. He spoke with IEEE Spectrum about why it took so long to get a number—6.67387 x 10 -11 m 3 /(kg s 2 )—and why it’s notably lower than the BIPM res
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Primary source: Why NIST Researchers Spent 10 Years Measuring Gravity via IEEE Spectrum. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.
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- Why NIST Researchers Spent 10 Years Measuring GravityIEEE Spectrum - 2026-07-28T13:00:01+00:00
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