A letter written to the National Geographic News editors:
In reference to the article at http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070226-sinkhole-photo.html:
Since Guatemala, along with all but a very small minority of countries in the world, is a fully metricated country, I sincerely doubt that "Police established a 500-yard (457-meter) no-go zone around the sinkhole...." I suspect that police actually "...established a 500-meter no-go zone around the sinkhole...," or even, "...established a 500-meter (546-yard) no-go zone around the sinkhole...."
Careless conversions can lead to misunderstandings on the part of your readership, including a nearly 40 m conversion error difference in the reality of the no-go zone and the distance conveyed by the article.
But, since you're a scientific magazine, why bother converting from metric into US Customary Units which further confuse your readers? The only time you should provide supplementary measurements, as a scientific magazine, is when you are quoting someone who has provided the original quotes in US Customary units.
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