20 Strangest Units of Measurements That Are Actually Real

In computing, the jiffy is the duration of one tick of the system timer interrupt. Typically, this time is 0.01 seconds, though in some earlier systems the jiffy was defined as 1⁄60 of a second.

One Toyota Prius is a unit of weight that is used to measure the total amount lifted by a weight-lifter. It weighs approximately 1325 kg (2921 lb).

Bananas, like most organic material, naturally contain a certain amount of radioactive isotopes even in the absence of any artificial pollution or contamination. This amount is roughly 0.1 microsieverts (a Sievert is a standard for measuring the biological effect of radiation). For instance, to receive the amount of radiation Japan’s Fukushima disaster leaked, you’d have to eat 76 million bananas.

A buttload is a real unit of measurement that is used for reasons that aren't always juvenile. A butt is actually a traditional unit of volume that is used for wines and other alcoholic beverages. A butt is defined to be 2 hogsheads, which in the US is 63 gallons. So a buttload is when you have a ton of booze and you don't want to count in hogsheads.

ASTA (American Spice Trade Association) pungency unit is based on a scientific method of measuring chili pepper “heat.” Most people are familiar with the Scoville scale, which measures the hotness of chili peppers. However, this scale is kind of inaccurate. ASTA technique utilizes high-performance liquid chromatography to identify and measure the concentrations of the various compounds that produce a heat sensation.

World Peace and Stability Index is a measure of stability and/or volatility of the world on a particular day. It is calculated as the 'number of times CNN news channel repeats a tape. Zero indicates a turbulent world with a lot of disturbing events going on in various parts. A high value signifies there are not many major events and the world is mostly peaceful.

Oliver R. Smoot was 5’7” in 1958 when his fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha, used him to measure the Harvard Bridge. The bridge is 364.4 Smoots long +/- 1 ear. If needed, Google Earth can also provide measurements in smoots in addition to miles and kilometers. Perhaps coincidentally, Oliver Smoot later became the chairman of ANSI (American National Standards Institute) which coordinates standard measurements.

A barn is a particle physics unit that (along with the femtobarn and inverse femtobarn), is used to measure how many particles hit a detector in collider experiments.

The beard-second is a unit of length inspired by the light-year but used for extremely short distances such as those in integrated circuits. 1 Beard-Second equals 5 nanometers.

The Sami people of Northern Finland have a unit of measurement called the ‘poronkusema.’ It is the distance a reindeer can travel before needing to stop to urinate.