World’s Most Perfect Pair Of Balls

They look like alien super data storage devices Braniac used to store all the data of the planets he destroyed.
Very cool.

olternaut

The significance of the balls isn't really the perfect roundness, but rather the perfect volume -> mols of silicon -> mass.

yeti

i have to say when i read the conversion for the inches i just can't help but mention how impractical it is. i mean, how do you remember so mani different numbers or fractions. the meters are so much easier to picture in your head by just reading a number instead of having to decipher the measurement. i mean 1/4, 1/8, 1/16th, that is ok but then a little more than a half is another fraction a somewhat little less than a half inch is a different fraction. just saying. bot work but some work better than others.

@Bokusatsu_Tenshi: LMAO I've never seen that

@DeusExMach has jumped the snark: I might just add that a 'perfect sphere' is a tuatology, sphere's by definition are perfect. If they aren't perfect then they aren't quite spheres....

Pirate.Machine

@OMG! Toesies on the Nosies!: But if next month you're getting it next month, aren't you getting it in September?

Kirril

Does anyone see a Tall Man with a hearse lurking around....?

@Bokusatsu_Tenshi: LOL! I've never seen that. Well worth the 5min.

NurseDave

Someone must have already posted this, but I can't help reposting.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

@dimsum4u: You have 1Kg balls?
Dude, go see a doctor NAO!

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

@dimsum4u:
You guys really have no clue about these... I'm a metrologist in the Air Force. Did you guys ever think about how we decided what was a kilogram? Someone didn't just take a crap in his hand and say, "That's about a kilogram!" This ball IS the kilogram. And everything else down the line is traceable to that ball. The scale in your bathroom is traceable to that ball. Without that ball, a lot of things in the world would be screwed up.

They're going to be sorry when Chuck Norris shows up to reclaim these.

Zanzan42

I immediately thought of the perfect use for these at a glance. This is exactly what we need for shooting HDR latlongs for IBL in CG. It captures the environment at a good resolution with minimal distortion. It doesn't look like they're fully reflective though.

Ok, we need seven more. Who's up next? Rack 'em.

lordstoli

@sargentr:It's meant to replace the french standard that recently laid-off french workers could potentially blow up.

lordstoli

LOC-NAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!!

DesireeGodinka

@Geisrud: Correction, they got TWO balls.
Two bad, big, shinny, fuckin' BALLS.

SewerShark

Am I the only onewho thinks that transparent container looks like the one containing the antimater in Angels & Demons

@Hello Mister Walrus:

i believe this was made to replace the french standard due to the fact that it is degrading and is no longer the correct mass.

sargentr

@Molbork: Essentially correct. Also, the fact that it's "an arbitrarily unit of measurement" (which as described above isn't actually correct anymore) that we need something to standardize to.

jamjen

You have balls. I like balls.

so where is the sack to transport these in?

marc_with_a_c

@DeusExMach has jumped the snark: Awesome.

@Akibake-:

willyolio

@dimsum4u: This was one of two approaches to making a new standard for the kilogram. If I remember correctly it uses a pure isotope of Silicon, tough in of itself, that when in the correct dimensions weighs 1 kilo.

I believe it gets us off the current standard by being some exact number of atoms of Silicon can be extrapolated from its size due to its crystal structure.

you need to buy the article or get a subscription!, but here's more info
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=weighty-matters

@tande04: But how would we know? Ultimately, isn't a Kilogram just an abitrary unit of measure agreed upon and then divided or multiplied to create all other metric weights? If so, and if this is the new Kg standard, then it is so because they said so.

Also, since when is silicon so shiny? and do they bounce?

@nbolmer: Seconded, thirded, and the motion is carried.

Balls, shmalls! Nothing beats a rhombus - 'cept maybe a dodecahedron.

jimmyrizzo

@dimsum4u: Science!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_Probe_B

Gravity Probe B's gyroscopes previously held the title of "roundest thing ever."

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/26apr_gpbtech.htm

It's amazing what a physicist can do once he makes things that don't *have* to be approximated by identical spheres.

CaseyG

@Hello Mister Walrus: I never say this because I think it's a bastardization of the English language and another of the thousand-plus cuts that the poor girl suffers from every time some twitter-fool or facespace-moron gets in front of a device with a keyboard...

but lol, man... lol.

@stonefry: don't forget about the atmosphere - it makes for good smoothness

Nice balls!

@DeusExMach has jumped the snark: August 29, 2009 12 PM. And yes, there will be pictures.

@tok3ninja; is the best non-star commenter: Oh, ok, smartguy. Make a more perfect-

ok, you know what? Even I'm sick of hearing that, and I'm the one saying it. Good on ya, bro.

@DeusExMach has jumped the snark: I'm on it. I just need to find my tiny pick axe.

Hello Mister Walrus

@Hello Mister Walrus: Oh, ok, smartguy. Make a more perfect kilogram if you're so high'n'mighty. Go on. We'll wait.

@Hello Mister Walrus: Oh, ok, smartguy. Make a more perfect sphere, if you're so high'n'mighty. Go on. We'll wait.

@cpthook: Heh. Good book. Awful movie.

nbolmer

Yeah, the balls are fancy and all, but I'm impressed with the precision measurement. :D

@DeusExMach has jumped the snark: Technically, they're not really perfect spheres. They're just the closest to perfect spheres that we have.

Hello Mister Walrus

@DJ Bushido: actually, they should be making more. each one will gain or lose some mass throughout its lifetime, through tiny, almost unmeasureable wear and tear or reacting with the atmosphere when they're used. they need multiple standard kilos to ensure consistency.

willyolio

@OMG! Ponies!: Wait, when are you getting this "supposed" tattoo?

@tok3ninja; is the best non-star commenter: Remember: keep your head down and don't volunteer for shit.

@qbrad: One liter of water does not have the mass of exactly one kilogram. It's just pretty close. Even if this was not the case, the previous guy mentioned the practical difficulties of this approach.

It's also worth mentioning that the kilogram is not a static unit. It's defined by a physical object - a machined metal cylinder in France called the International Prototype Kilogram. It's mass changes infinitesimally as atoms fall off or attach to it.

Hello Mister Walrus

@dimsum4u: new kilogram standard and NASA also uses smaller and as perfect balls for gyroscopes in space.

logicalnoise

@tok3ninja; is the best non-star commenter:
it is still pretty round, though.

i found the answer in the wiki. scaled to the earth's size, it would have "hills" of about 2.4m tall. nice.

even including all the mountains and valleys, earth is still very spherical. it's smoother than most spheres you'll encounter in everyday life.

willyolio

@dimsum4u: They replace the current kilogram standard.

tande04

Now if they had been sculpted from animal dung THAT would have been impressive.

WyldeChef

@mocanlagunas: Would it surprise you to know that next month I'm getting a "Join The Imperial Navy" tattoo next month?

Cue the ACDC.

Akibake-

Something about them makes me really want to touch....

Atticka

@DeusExMach has jumped the snark:

+25 internets.

@dimsum4u: Maybe it's to demonstrate their precision manufacturing capabilities.

Hello Mister Walrus

@OMG! Ponies!: Wait...that's just what I heard.

@OMG! Ponies!: Shit! make bumper stickers of that. I'll buy one and I don't even have a car...

mocanlagunas

@DeusExMach has jumped the snark: Fighting in the trenches of the Apple/Microsoft war. You'll never be the same after you see a young and energetic PC nerd get his head taken off by flying iPhone shrapnel. It's a goddamn bloodbath out there.

tok3ninja; is the best non-star commenter

Hillary Clinton would love these.

@Geisrud: Bowling.

badhatharry

@@prixdc: You assume I stop.

@Bigbadbikernerd: Thank you. When you're done under my desk, could you go pick up my documents off the printer.

So um...whats the use of these perfect balls? I don't see a benefit besides the fact that they are life size replicas of my own.

One can almost see MC Escher on them...

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

@qbrad:

One liter of water sure, but that isn't free of any issues either:

What about variations in temperature? Density? Evaporation?

Even if you could measure 1 litre of water with this kind of precision, why not just make these spheres instead?

Stubtify

Yes, but if I walk into one of them, will millions of jellyfish descend upon us?

cpthook

@qbrad: Those American drug addicts.

When do the blades come out and try to stab people?

@tok3ninja; is the best non-star commenter: Not to mention mountains and valleys and stuff. I know, I just mentioned them.

@tok3ninja; is the best non-star commenter: Where ya been?

Pffft! Everyone knows that OMG Ponies has the most Perfect Pair of balls...right? Hello.......oh...what?...nevermind...

@Nick: Don't get Ponies started again...

@Geisrud: They're taking them and going home?

so if these things were the size of the earth the hight would only vary by about 1.61"
thats pretty impressive
(someone can double check my math)

ilya687

@aaj111: Exactly. They're perfect spheres. There is no "point".

I wanna dip my BALLS in it!

@DJ Bushido: Hopefully they never touch each other.

Justin Culmo

@qbrad: water evaporates, and you still need a container to hold it, which means you still need to make an ultraprecise container.

willyolio

So what now? ... The perfect triangle? Square? Parallelogram?

I can see the appeal, the perfect sphere. But, come on, what was the point?

I like how you started pure with SI units, then bemoaned Imperial units, but still gave us the stupid units anyway.

@Homerjay here for OxyClean!: I think they used Colbert's to create molds for these. So he already has the originals.

Xeno

who woulda thought it'd be so damn difficult to make a ball perfectly round

@duroc: Too bad its pure silicon.

ie, fail.

"Perfect balls? We don't need no stinkin' perfect balls!!"

banmojo

Isn't it best to just use 1 liter (litre?) of ultrapure water to measure out a kilo? And does this mean that my coke shipments have been off by as much as 0.0000000003 grams?!!?! Those Colombian theives!

I picture Bon Scott singing, "but I've got the smoothest, balls of them all...."

ottermann

@danger the pirate: On the what?

Damn it man don't leave us hanging...

Is it the dependence on the "international prototype kilogram"?

tande04

all to all, by my balls

Nick: My island name is Nicko

@willyolio: Actually, the Earth is not perfectly round. Because of the spin, the Earth is bulged at the equator.

tok3ninja; is the best non-star commenter

dont drop it...

NotSoSiniSter

When does Chen get to pants these? And will we have front row seats?

@DingosTookMyBaby: did the dead guy pee himself? lol nice clip

@OMG! Ponies!: Just like buttermilk.

tok3ninja; is the best non-star commenter

@International Prototype Kilogram.

@OMG! Ponies!: I didn't realize Giz was becoming a political blog.

tok3ninja; is the best non-star commenter

@stubbze: Re-Elect Palpatine for US Senate.

yeah, but how much more perfectly spherical are they than the earth?

willyolio

@duroc: I love it when people laugh at their own lame jokes.

make link goes to the wrong post. you were one off, jesus. correct link

How long before Steven Colbert tries to buy them?

So they got a ball. Now what?

Those fools! Don't they know that spheres can be dangerous? Observe!

Anyone else in the mood for some tea?

@OMG! Ponies!: Best comment ever!

Literally laughed out loud!

Though I think the empire has fallen every except the US and Myanmar

stubbze

why make 2? wouldn't one be enough to prove your ball-making abilities? probably just to invite attention via innuendo for something that is overall not exciting. haha.

@testkahuna: That can get you banned here.

You sure have the balls for trying that.

ok, but why did they make them?

CE_Salesman

of course they had to make two of them.....just so the press release could say "World's most perfect pair of balls"

Devastator thinks these are nothing.

North Star

this reminds me of a certain sketch from The State...

L.K. Myntz

@sheldonsherman: You've got Balls to question a post on Giz.

They know what they're doing, or simply that's how they Roll.

BALLS OF STEEL!

"Can you please stop sa..."

BALLS OF STEEL!

@OMG! Ponies!: With a hit of chocolate

Technogen

Listen up, rebel scum. We in the Empire do not take kindly to bloggers denouncing Imperial units of measure. Neither kilograms nor meters nor parsecs are acceptable units of measurement.

Keep speaking out against Imperial rules, regulations, and measures and you will find yourself living out your very short life in the spice mines of Kessel.

But will they blend?

testkahuna

pfff... Mine are ULTRA- smooth. wanna see?

Krizstof

what's the diameter of these things. the smoothness/roundness numbers are easier to picture if you scale these things up to earth size.

and what the hell are these things made of?

either way, that god there are some near perfect spheres out there now, i was starting to worry.

ilya687

Those are cool, but for what reason were they created?

@OMG! Ponies!: Salty.

imbosile

I wonder if they would more perfect if they were made in zero gravity or were mine

Kamenwati

@OMG! Ponies!: salty

paragraph

Sure, that's amazing and "YEA!" for technology, but why?!?

I've got to say it - now those guys have some balls of steel, lol

duroc

They should be magnetically levitating to reduce atomic ware from its holder.

But how do they taste?

And when exactly did Captain Chesley Sullenberger donate them?

brahmachari99

@cpthook:

Was totally thinking the same thing, hilarious

Brad Prose

Let me be the 50th person to yell: They see me rollin' they hatin', they wanna catch me rollin' dirty!

@brahmachari99: Ha! nice one!

Bassem B.

@dimsum4u: You better see a doctor.

quayzar

@qbrad: jus fyi to everyone questioning this, the balls arent examples of 1kg or preservations of 1 kg they are literally the DEFINITION of 1 kg. the SI unit for a kilogram is DEFINED as the weight of that ball.

xanderjanz

The link doesn't take you to the correct page...

mrbofus

@OMG! Toesies on the Nosies!: Raymond Kessel has spice mines? I thought he was supposed to go into veterinary medicine?

And they use the same technology to pad them that I do to keep my table from Wobbling.

I got a circle perfected to pixels drawn with a computer, seriously wtf is the use of this? And wtf are they gonna do with it?

delagato

I will show you the world's most perfect pair of balls....