As agreed upon by scientists and representatives from around 60 countries last year, the world's measuring systems are shifting away from using physical standards. Among the most 1 of these is the international prototype kilogram 2 as Le Grand K, a small metal cylinder protected underneath Paris 3 has defined weights and measurements 4 1889. The change is meant to 5 the risk of relying on physical items. "Unlike a physical object, a fundamental 6 doesn't change," says Stephan Schlamminger, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, in a  7 statement. "Now a kilogram will have the same 8 whether you are on Earth, on Mars, or in the Andromeda galaxy." Kilogram is the standard unit of measurement used around the world, 9 a few countries like England and the US. Initially created and named in the 1790s, the kilogram was part of 10 was then known as the metric system, a concept developed during the French Revolution by a group of scientists hoping to 11 the myriad chaotic measuring systems across the country. The researchers' efforts eventually spread across the 12 , and in 1875, 17 nations created the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, commonly known by its French 13 , BIPM. Today, BIPM has expanded to 59 countries across the world. Even in a contentious political climate, 14 from countries including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel, China, the US, Russia, Brazil, South Korea and others come together every four years to 15 the state of what is now known as the International System of Units, or SI. The kilogram wasn't the only unit 16 on May 20. Four out of the seven base units within the SI will be changed in total, 17 the ampre, the kelvin, and the mole. Ampres are used to 18 electrical currents. Kelvin measures temperature. Moles, 19 , are used to measure the number of molecules. The changes made to these three will most likely be 20 by all but scientists requiring the most precise measurements achievable.