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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday December 15 2019, @08:36PM   Printer-friendly
from the that-foot-stinks dept.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

US finally giving boot to official foot measurement

Change is afoot for the official measuring stick used to size up big places in America.

The reason? There are actually two different definitions of the 12-inch measurement known as a foot.

Some land surveyors use what's known as the U.S. survey foot. Others use the definition that's more accepted by the broader world: the international foot.

The difference between them is so tiny that you can't see it with the naked eye on a 12-inch ruler. But over big distances, it matters. So, to reduce the chance for errors and confusion, the federal government has announced it's finally giving the boot to the survey foot.

The international foot is the smaller one—adding about an eighth of an inch of difference when measuring a mile. That means the United States is 28.3 feet wider when measured using the international foot instead of the survey foot.

The change started in 1959, when the federal government mandated that everyone use the international foot but allowed surveyors to keep to the old U.S. survey foot for a while. That temporary reprieve has lasted 60 years, but it will finally end in 2022, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Institute of Standards and Technology announced in October.


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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by FatPhil on Monday December 16 2019, @01:32AM

    by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Monday December 16 2019, @01:32AM (#932600) Homepage
    The real insanity was in 1957.

    Options available:
    - adopt sanity now
    - adopt slightly less insane insane-lookalikes now
    Choice taken:
    - permit full insanity to continue for 60+ years

    Enjoy crashing things into mars for the next 6 decades!
    --
    Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
    Starting Score:    1  point
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    Total Score:   3