'Ronnabyte' and 'Quettabyte' are the new terms to describe large amounts of data
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
The world is full of data - on your phone, your computer, in the cloud. We measure it with words like gigabyte or terabyte.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
But data is growing exponentially, and people had started using some less-than-scientific-terms to describe it, such as hellabyte to describe the number one with 27 zeroes after it.
RICHARD BROWN: Hellabyte comes from hell of a big number.
SHAPIRO: Richard Brown of the U.K.'s National Physical Laboratory says it was a different made-up term alluding to brontosauruses that really set him off.
BROWN: Brontobyte - well, I'd seen that in a number of locations. But specifically, I heard about it on a BBC radio program. And that was really the start of the work for me - having heard this unofficial name being used, which is not acceptable as an official name because the starting letters, B and H for hellabyte, are already in use.
KELLY: You see, Brown is a metrologist. This is one of these people who makes sure we have ways to measure the ridiculously large and small. And to fit within established conventions, the new prefix had to start with either R or Q.
SHAPIRO: So over the last five years, Brown coined some new contenders and tossed out another.
BROWN: Which is very, very close to a swear word in Portuguese.
SHAPIRO: Eventually, he settled on two new prefixes for large quantities - ronna and quetta.
BROWN: Ronna is 10 to the power 27. So that's a one with 27 zeros after it. Quetta is 10 to the power 30. So that's a one with 30 zeros after it.
SHAPIRO: For context, the mass of the earth is about six ronnagrams.
KELLY: On Friday, representatives from around the world convened in Paris for the General Conference on Weights and Measures. They voted to adopt the new prefixes, along with two more for teeny, tiny quantities - ronto and quecto. That's 10 to the power minus 27 and 30, respectively.
SHAPIRO: Now, Brown says quetta is not related in any way to the city in Pakistan, but there are a few people named Ronna. And Ronna Pratt, an events consultant in Pittsburgh, had a message for Brown.
RONNA PRATT: Thanks for memorializing my name like that. It's kind of an unusual name. I don't even get those little keychains at the tourist traps, you know, that have your names on them. There's never a Ronna.
KELLY: Pratt doesn't think she'll use ronnabytes in her line of work, but she may find other applications. When she first heard the news, she was on the phone with a friend.
PRATT: She cracked the joke immediately that, from now on, our hangovers will have to be measured in ronnabytes and how many of them we have today.
SHAPIRO: Given the magnitude of a ronnabyte, it sounds like a head-splitting diagnosis either way.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
"Ronabytes ni maneno ya kisasa ya ""data"" ambayo hutumiwa kuelezea kiasi kikubwa cha data, na pia kwa kutumia data kutoka kwa kompyuta, simu, na vifaa vya kompyuta." "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""kitu"" ni kipimo cha data, kama vile gigabytes, terabytes, na terabytes." "Mwanzoni mwa karne ya 20, ""data"" iliongezeka sana, na watu walianza kutumia maneno yasiyo ya kisayansi kuelezea, kama vile ""hellabyte"" kuelezea nambari moja na sifuri 27 baada yake." "Hellabyte ni jina la ""Hellabyte"" na ni jina la ""Hellabyte"" kwa sababu ya idadi kubwa ya vitu vilivyopo." Richard Brown, Mtafiti wa Maabara ya Kitaifa ya Fizikia ya Uingereza, alisema kuwa jina hilo lilitokana na jina la Brontosaurus, ambalo lilimfanya apende. Brontobite - vizuri, nilikuwa nimeona kwamba katika maeneo kadhaa. Lakini kwa kweli, nilisikia juu yake kwenye programu ya redio ya BBC. "Hiyo ilikuwa mwanzo wa kazi yangu, baada ya kusikia jina hili lisilo rasmi likitumiwa, ambalo halikubaliki kama jina rasmi kwa sababu herufi za mwanzo, ""B"" na ""H"" kwa ""Hellabyte,"" tayari zinatumiwa." KELLY: Unaona, Brown ni mtaalamu wa vipimo. Hii ni moja ya watu hawa ambao hufanya uhakika tuna njia ya kupima ridiculously kubwa na ndogo. "Kwa hivyo, kwa sababu ya hali ya kawaida ya kutengeneza, kiambishi cha kwanza cha neno ""R"" lazima kianze na ""Q"" au ""R.""" "Hiyo ni neno la kawaida ambalo linahusiana sana na neno la ""kufuru"" katika Kireno." SHAPIRO: Hatimaye, aliamua kutumia viambishi viwili vipya kwa ajili ya kiasi kikubwa - ronna na quetta. Rona ni 10 kwa nguvu ya 27. "Hiyo ni ""1"" na ""27"" baada yake." Quetta ni mji wa 10 kwa nguvu ya 30. "Hiyo ni ""1"" na ""30"" baada yake." Kwa mujibu wa Shapiro, uzito wa dunia ni karibu ronnagrams sita. Mkutano wa kimataifa wa watu wenye uwezo wa kupima uzito wa dunia ulifanyika Paris, Ufaransa, siku ya Ijumaa, kwa ajili ya mkutano wa kimataifa wa watu wenye uwezo wa kupima uzito wa dunia. Walipiga kura ya kupitisha viambishi vipya, pamoja na viambishi vingine viwili kwa ajili ya kiasi kidogo sana - ronto na quecto. Hii ni sawa na 10^27 na 30^30. "Baraza la Usalama la Marekani limesema kuwa Quetta haikuhusiana na mji wa Pakistan, lakini kwamba kuna watu wachache wanaoitwa ""Rona.""" Ronna Pratt, mshauri wa matukio huko Pittsburgh, alikuwa na ujumbe kwa Brown. """Nashukuru kwa kuwakumbusha jina langu kwa njia hiyo." Ni aina ya jina isiyo ya kawaida. Hata mimi si kupata wale keychains kidogo katika mitego ya watalii, unajua, kwamba kuwa na majina yako juu yao. Hakuna kamwe Ronna. Pratt anaamini kwamba hataweza kutumia rnBytes katika kazi yake, lakini anaweza kupata matumizi mengine. Aliposikia habari hiyo kwa mara ya kwanza, alikuwa akizungumza na rafiki yake kwa simu. "Mwanamke huyo alishangaa na kusema, ""Kuanzia sasa na kuendelea, maumivu yetu ya kichefuchefu yatapimwa kwa ronnabytes na ni ngapi tunazo leo.""" Kwa mujibu wa Shapiro, kwa sababu ya idadi ya watu wanaohudhuria, ni vigumu sana kuamua ikiwa ni lazima kuamua kwa njia ya msingi. (Kutoka kwa NPR) (Kutoka kwa NPR) (Kutoka kwa NPR)