A Hella-big number

At present the biggest prefix in the current system of units is Yotta (10 to the power of 24.)

However, a slang word coined in Northern California has been proposed as a worthy entry into the field of scientific measurement. Austin Sendek, a physics student at UC Davis, wants the number of 10 to the 27th power -- a trillion trillions -- to officially become "hella" big.

Sendek is petitioning the International System of Units (SI) to use the term "hella" to describe really, really big measurements; such as the size of the universe.
"The diameter of the universe is 1.4 hellameters," Sendek said. "You know if someone says that's 'hella meters' you know exactly what they're talking about."

Under Sendek's proposed terminology, you would say the mass of the earth is six hellagrams, and the power of the sun is 0.3 hellawatts.

Physics professor Daniel Cox says he gets a kick out of the idea, but points out the number is so big, you can't use it to count the age of the universe, believed to be a measly five times 10 to the power of 17 seconds. "Ten to the 27th [power] is about 10 billion times bigger," Cox said. "That's a hella lot of seconds."

Sendek admits that the odds of his idea gaining traction are "hella small," but he has his hopes.

Not much of a story really. I wonder why I bothered!