Carlos Alcala from McClatchy Newspapers has written a nice article about Austin Sendek and his quest to get “hella” as the official prefix for 1027. It even has a quote from another Yrekan physicist about the prospects for “hella”:
The CCU may not be the last word, though, said David Bacon, a University of Washington computer science/physics research professor.
Bacon has blogged in support of hella and claims it isn’t just because he, too, hails from Yreka.
“It’s just a cute idea,” he said.
And, the United States could adopt it irrespective of the international measurement authorities, he said. “We don’t use the metric system, right?”
Sadly it seems that the committee has no sense of humor about the serious work of SI unit-ology:
Sendek’s most recent effort was an e-mail Wednesday to professor Ian Mills, an English physicist who chairs the international Consultative Committee on Units – the group with the last say on measurement lingo. He asked if he could present the hella proposal to the committee in person.
“I believe a personal proposition would be a fitting way to top off this whimsical international discussion, even if the committee has no intentions of actually implementing the prefix,” he wrote.
Mills responded Thursday, but in the negative.
“I am afraid it is not practical,” wrote Mills, who earlier agreed to share the idea with his committee. “I will let you know how your proposal is received.”
Oh, that is sooooo hella weak.
It’s exciting that I can claim to know a sought-after, leading authority on hella stuff.
But — someone should tell the kid in the picture that having one’s arm autographed is sub-optimal. The folks at the Antiques Road Show may have a problem when her younger brother submits the girl’s limb for authentication….
I keep hoping, hoping, hoping this goes through. It would give the next generation of young physicists (and chemists and engineers) an interesting diversion during several classes. 🙂