TWO MOLES. One is a unit in chemistry used to count really really tiny stuff like atoms and molecules. The other is a naked mole rat (which, to be fair, isn’t even a mole despite burrowing underground like one).

Probably not—but… it did. Because that’s the day the mole unit went from being 6.022×10^23 to 6.02214076×10^23. Those new numbers represent a fundamental shift in the way we measure things—not just on Earth, but throughout space and time. In a sense, a more perfect unit was made. And, as a result, discoveries previously thought impossible are now possible. To show you how, we’ll count atoms inside one of the world’s most perfectly round spheres at an underground lab in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) outside of Washington, D.C.

1. THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON NAKED MOLE RATS
For the first part of this mole tale (follow the link after the video ), imagine an eight-by-eight elevator packed with 1,100 people—that’s the level of carbon dioxide a nest full of naked mole rats need in order to survive. But, how can they—or anything—live like that? Well, it’s because of a genetic mutation only two mammals have: them and us (us being humans). The thing is, we both express the mutation differently. If the CO2 breathing mystery in these little hairless wonders is unlocked, it could one day prevent or better treat certain forms of autism, epilepsy, and schizophrenia. A breakthrough is on the verge at CUNY College of Staten Island in New York, where about 300 naked mole rats live in a Tupperware kingdom.

TWO MOLES with seemingly nothing in common, right? Look past the obvious and you tell us.

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Episode – Moles (part two)
“ A More Perfect Unit: The New Mole ”
Video by : Tom McNamara
Narrator : Eleanor Cummins
Animation : Ben Gabelman
Animation : Jason Drakeford
Additional camera : Erin Chapman
Online Director : Amy Schellenbaum

Editor-in-Chief : Joe Brown

MEDIA
Internet Archive, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Pond5, Wikimedia Commons

SPECIAL THANKS
Alison Gillespie (NIST), Dr. Savelas Rabb (NIST), Dr. Stephan Schlamminger (NIST), Dr. Bob Vocke (NIST); the Kibble Balance, K20, the mass spectrometer, the silicon sphere

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