This year, 2016, is a banner year for advocates of the power of ten. It is the 150th anniversary of Congress passing Public Law 39-183, otherwise known as the Metric Act of 1866, which for the first time made it legal to use the metric system for weights and measures in the United States.
2016 also marks the 100th anniversary of the American Metric Association (renamed the U.S. Metric Association in 1974), a non-profit organization created to advocate adoption of the metric system in U.S. commerce and education. American appreciation of the metric system has been less than avid but has gradually grown, in large part because of leadership from science and engineering communities.
To celebrate the elegant ecosystem of exponents, DARPA has created an agency-centric "Powers of Ten" presentation—an expansive journey of DARPA technologies from the eensie weensie to the enormous. Check it out, and give a hand (that's four inches, or 10.16 cm) for the metric system!
For more DARPA news, go to www.darpa.mil.