Two independent research teams have achieved a longstanding goal in physics: building a working nuclear clock. The devices, developed by Beichen Huang and colleagues at Tsinghua University and by Luca ...

By using a rare thorium nucleus as a timekeeper, physicists have demonstrated the first working nuclear clock, a device that could lead to even more precise clocks and new ways to search for dark ...

Most clocks, from wristwatches to the systems that run GPS and the internet, work by tracking regular, repeating motions. To build a clock, you need something that ticks in a perfectly repeatable way.

Atomic clocks have been around for nearly 80 years, but their successors—nuclear clocks—are ready to take the stage. Two independent studies, both uploaded as preprints, report reliable timekeeping ...

Atomic clocks are established as the most precise timekeepers created. Atomic clocks work by deploying lasers to measure the vibrations of atoms (electromagnetic signals). By atoms oscillating at a ...

To find out how clock accuracy is verified and which reference is used for comparison, we visited the Belarusian State Institute of Metrology (BelGIM), where most of the national standards are kept.

Keeping time is easy, keeping precise time is hard, but a new type of clock based on atomic nuclei has pushed time-keeping ...

Humanity has used clocks since we became aware of the concept of time. And as technology has improved, so have our time-keeping methods. Today, many people rely on digital clocks to track the hours ...

Smaller version Illustration of a conventional atomic fountain clock (left) next to NPL’s miniature atomic fountain clock. (Courtesy: NPL) A miniature version of an atomic fountain clock has been ...

Without precise time, the modern world collapses - from GPS to the electricity grid. And Switzerland is one of the clock ...

Most clocks, from wristwatches to the systems that run GPS and the internet, work by tracking regular, repeating motions. To build a clock, you need something that ticks in a perfectly repeatable way.