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JOAN CARTAN-HANSEN, HOST: 
MEASURING IS A WAY OF FINDING

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SIZES OR AMOUNTS.

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IT ALLOWS US TO MAKE 
COMPARISONS.

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BUT WHY, WHAT AND HOW WE 
MEASURE IS QUITE A STORY.

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(MUSIC) 
SOME SCIENTISTS THINK THAT THE

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VERY FIRST SIGNS OF HUMANS 
MEASURING SOMETHING CAN BE

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FOUND IN THE PAINTINGS IN 
CAVES IN FRANCE.

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THE IMAGES ON THE WALLS IN THE 
CAVES DATE BACK TO PREHISTORIC

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TIMES.

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SOME SCIENTISTS SUGGEST THE 
BLACK DOTS ALONG WITH THE

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OTHER IMAGES WERE A WAY TO 
MEASURE TIME THROUGH THE LUNAR

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CYCLE.

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ONE OF THE OLDEST KNOWN 
STANDARDS OF MEASUREMENT COMES

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FROM ANCIENT EGYPT.

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IT WAS CALLED A CUBIT.

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IT WAS MEASURED FROM THE TIP 
OF THE FINGER TO THE ELBOW.

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BUT THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH 
THAT.

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CAN YOU SEE IT?

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TO AVOID CONFUSION, AN 
EGYPTIAN KING SET THE OFFICIAL

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LENGTH OF A CUBIT AND ALL 
CUBITS IN THE LAND HAD TO BE

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THE SAME.

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CUBIT MEASURING STICKS WERE 
HANDED OUT AND IF YOU DIDN'T

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USE IT PROPERLY, THE PENALTY 
COULD BE DEATH.

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SO, WITH A UNIT OF MEASUREMENT 
THAT WAS ALWAYS THE SAME, THE

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EGYPTIANS WENT ON TO BUILD 
SOME OF THE WORLD'S MOST

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AMAZING STRUCTURES.

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ANCIENT CHINESE KINGS BASED 
MEASUREMENTS OF LENGTH ON BODY

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PARTS TOO, 
AS DID ENGLISH KINGS.

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AN INCH BECAME THE WIDTH OF A 
THUMB,

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A FOOT WAS THE LENGTH OF A 
FOOT.

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A YARD WAS THE LENGTH OF A 
MAN'S STRIDE.

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AND, AS PEOPLE MOVED AROUND 
THE WORLD AND TRADED GOODS,

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STANDARDS OF MEASUREMENT WENT 
WITH THEM.

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BUT THERE WAS STILL A PROBLEM.

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THE STANDARD OF MEASUREMENT 
DIFFERED FROM COUNTRY TO

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COUNTRY, EVEN CITY TO CITY.

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WE NEEDED TO BE ABLE TO MAKE 
COMPARISONS AND WE NEEDED TO

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BRING ORDER TO OUR WORLD.

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AND YOU CAN'T DO GOOD 
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OR

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PROPERLY BUILD THINGS OR EVEN 
KNOW IF YOU'RE PAYING THE

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RIGHT AMOUNT FOR SOMETHING IF 
YOU DON'T HAVE AN ACCURATE AND

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STANDARDIZED SYSTEMS OF 
MEASUREMENT.

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AND WITHOUT ACCURATE SYSTEMS 
OF MEASUREMENT, YOU CAN'T

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PREDICT OR ESTIMATE SUPPLIES 
OR FIGURE OUT WHAT WILL

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HAPPEN.

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SO, STARTING ABOUT 1799, THE 
FRENCH DEVELOPED THE METRIC

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SYSTEM.

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AND IN 1875, ESTABLISHED AN 
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION TO

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MAKE SURE WEIGHTS AND 
MEASUREMENTS WERE ACCURATE AND

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THE SAME ACROSS THE WORLD.

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THE ENGLISH STANDARDIZED THEIR 
IMPERIAL SYSTEM A FEW YEARS

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EARLIER 
BUT AMERICA DIDN'T START

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STANDARDIZING ITS OWN U.S.

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CUSTOMARY MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS 
UNTIL THE EARLY 19 HUNDREDS.

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SO, WHAT DO WE MEASURE?

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ALMOST EVERYTHING.

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AND HOW WE DO IT, IS WITH 
UNITS OF NUMBERS BASED ON SOME

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PROPERTY LIKE HOW BIG OR HOW 
MANY.

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SO, LET'S LEARN ABOUT SOME 
FUNDAMENTAL UNITS.

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ROLL 'EM.

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(NEWSREEL MUSIC) 
MALE VOICE: TIME

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CARTAN-HANSEN: TIME STARTED 
OUT BEING MEASURED BY THE

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MOVEMENT OF THE EARTH.

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A YEAR IS HOW LONG IT TAKES 
THE EARTH TO MAKE ONE COMPLETE

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ROTATION AROUND THE SUN.

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A MONTH IS ROUGHLY HOW LONG IT 
TAKES THE MOON TO COMPLETE ONE

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ORBIT OF THE EARTH.

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A DAY IS HOW LONG IT TAKES THE 
EARTH TO COMPLETE ONE TURN ON

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ITS AXIS.

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ANCIENT EGYPTIANS DIVIDED THE 
DAY INTO APPROXIMATELY 24

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HOURS USING SUNDIALS.

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AN HOUR HAS 60 MINUTES, 
AND A MINUTE HAS 60 SECONDS.

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BUT HOW LONG IS A SECOND?

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TO BE PRECISE, A SECOND IS NOW 
NOT BASED ON THE MOVEMENT OF

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THE EARTH BUT ON ATOMIC TIME.

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SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

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WELL UNLESS YOU ARE A 
SCIENTIST WHO NEEDS THAT KIND

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OF PRECISION, DON'T WORRY 
ABOUT.

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JUST REMEMBER THAT SECONDS 
TURN INTO MINUTES, MINUTES

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TURN INTO HOURS, HOURS TURN 
INTO DAYS, DAYS TURN INTO

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WEEKS, WEEKS TURN INTO MONTHS, 
MONTHS TURN INTO YEARS.

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(NEWSREEL MUSIC) 
MALE VOICE: LENGTH OR DISTANCE

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CARTAN-HANSEN: IN THE U.S.

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CUSTOMARY SYSTEM OF 
MEASUREMENT, DON'T WORRY ABOUT

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THE METRIC SYSTEM- I'LL GET TO 
THAT IN A MINUTE-

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LENGTH IS MEASURED IN INCHES, 
FEET, YARDS, AND MILES.

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SPEED LIMITS FOR CARS, FOR 
EXAMPLE, ARE MEASURED IN MILES

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PER HOUR.

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THAT'S BECAUSE SPEED IS 
MEASURED IN DISTANCE TRAVELED

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OVER TIME.

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SOME DISTANCES ARE SO VAST 
THAT MEASURING IN MILES IS

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CONFUSING.

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SO, IN SPACE, WE MEASURE IN 
ASTRONOMICAL UNITS AND LIGHT

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YEARS.

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THE EARTH IS 93 MILLION MILES 
FROM THE SUN.

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THAT'S ONE ASTRONOMICAL UNIT.

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SO, MARS, FOR EXAMPLE IS 1 
POINT 5-2 ASTRONOMICAL UNITS

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FROM THE SUN.

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A LIGHT YEAR IS HOW FAR LIGHT 
TRAVELS IN ONE YEAR.

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A LIGHT YEAR IS 60 THOUSAND 
ASTRONOMICAL UNITS.

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THE SUN'S CLOSEST STAR IS 
ALPHA CENTAURI AND IT IS 4

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POINT 4 LIGHT YEARS AWAY.

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ONCE YOU KNOW HOW TO MEASURE 
LENGTH, YOU CAN MEASURE

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HEIGHT, HOW TALL, AND WIDTH, 
HOW WIDE.

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AND ONCE YOU KNOW LENGTH, 
HEIGHT, AND WIDTH, YOU CAN

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FIGURE OUT VOLUME.

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(NEWSREEL MUSIC) 
MALE VOICE: VOLUME.

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CARTAN-HANSEN: VOLUME IS A 
MEASURE OF SPACE, WHETHER IT

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BE A SOLID, LIQUID OR GAS.

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YOU CAN MEASURE THE SPACE TO 
FIGURE OUT THE VOLUME.

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LIQUID VOLUME IS OFTEN 
MEASURED IN OUNCES, CUPS,

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PINTS, QUARTS, AND GALLONS.

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(NEWSREEL MUSIC) 
MALE VOICE: WEIGHT.

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CARTAN-HANSEN: IN THE UNITED 
STATES, MASS, OR MORE COMMONLY

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WHAT WE CALL WEIGHT, IS 
GENERALLY MEASURED IN OUNCES,

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POUNDS, OR TONS.

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AND UNDER THE ENGLISH SYSTEM, 
WEIGHTS ARE ALSO MEASURED IN

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STONES.

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(NEWSREEL MUSIC) 
MALE VOICE: TEMPERATURE.

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CARTAN-HANSEN: IN THE UNITED 
STATES, TEMPERATURE IS

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MEASURED ON THE FAHRENHEIT 
SCALE WHERE 32 DEGREES IS THE

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POINT WHERE WATER FREEZES AND 
212 DEGREES IS WHEN WATER

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BOILS.

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AND THAT'S JUST PART OF THE 
STORY OF MEASUREMENT.

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WE MEASURE LOTS OF DIFFERENT 
THINGS IN LOTS OF DIFFERENT

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WAYS.

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WE USE COMPARISONS AND WE TRY 
TO BRING ORDER TO OUR WORLD.

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AND WHEN WE MEASURE WE USE 
UNITS OR STANDARDS OF

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MEASUREMENT.

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WE TRY TO MAKE THOSE STANDARDS 
AS ACCURATE AND AS CONSISTENT

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AS POSSIBLE.

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IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE 
ABOUT MEASUREMENT, CHECK OUT

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THE SCIENCE TREK WEBSITE.

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OH WAIT A MINUTE, I WAS 
SUPPOSED TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE

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METRIC SYSTEM.

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TO LEARN ABOUT THAT, YOU'LL 
JUST HAVE TO WATCH THE NEXT

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SCIENCE TREK VIDEO.

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YOU'LL FIND IT AT 
SCIENCETREK.ORG

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(MUSIC)

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NARRATOR: PRESENTATION OF 
SCIENCE TREK ON IDAHO PUBLIC

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TELEVISION IS MADE POSSIBLE 
THROUGH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT

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OF THE LAURA MOORE CUNNINGHAM 
FOUNDATION, COMMITTED TO

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FULFILLING THE MOORE AND 
BETTIS FAMILY LEGACY OF

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BUILDING THE GREAT STATE OF 
IDAHO; BY THE IDAHO NATIONAL

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LABORATORY, MENTORING TALENT 
AND FINDING SOLUTIONS FOR

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IDAHO PUBLIC TELEVISION AND BY 
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