Every second of modern life runs on precision — from GPS navigation to the time signals that keep the internet in sync. But ...

Atomic clocks that excite the nucleus of thorium-229 embedded in a transparent crystal when hit by a laser beam could yield the most accurate measurements ever of time and gravity, and even rewrite ...

Every time you check the time on your phone, make an online transaction, or use a navigation app, you are depending on the ...

On January 17, 2025, a Ryanair flight from London was just moments from touching down in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius when its descent was abruptly aborted. The Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 had descended ...

Optical lattice clocks are emerging timekeeping devices based on tens of thousands of ultracold atoms trapped in an optical ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. The ongoing race to create the next generation of hyperaccurate ...

The clock is so reliable that it would be off by less than a second if it had started running 100 million years ago, researchers say. A new atomic clock is one of the world’s best timekeepers, ...

Ekkehard Peik thought it would take only a few months to create the basic ingredients of a radical new clock. That was back in 2001, when he and his colleague Christian Tamm proposed a device with the ...

The world’s most accurate clock now belongs to researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Its new optical atomic clock, built around a single trapped aluminum ion, can ...