The world generates so much data that new unit measurements were created to keep up

The world needs more unit measurement to keep up with the ever-increasing numbers of digital data.

At the 27th General Conference on Weights and Measures on Friday, four new prefixes to the International System of Units, or metric system, were introduced.

Richard Brown, head of the U.K.'s National Physical Laboratory who proposed the four new prefixes, told The Associated Press that most people are familiar with the first one. New additions are for the biggest and smallest levels.

Before the new additions, Yotta was the largest prefix. The Earth's mass can now be said to be around 6 ronnagrams. The sun can be said to be less than 2 billion years old.

At a time when scientists and industries are dealing with data that is beyond the current range, the new prefixes comes at a good time.

The National Physical Laboratory said that the change was driven by the growing requirements of data science and digital storage.

According to the market research group International Data Corporation, the world is projected to generate 175 Zettabyte of data by the year 2025.

Particle physics and quantum science will benefit from the use of the prefixes for small numbers. An electron's mass can be said to be about 1 rontogram, which is less than a yoctogram.

According to the National Physical Laboratory, this is the first expansion of the measurement system in twenty years.

"R", "Q", and "r" are the letters of the alphabet. Brown told The Associated Press that the letters were chosen because they weren't already used.

It was late. Brown said that they needed new words as things expanded. The world has changed a lot in a few decades.