Which atomic clocks are best? The first time zone, Greenwich Mean Time, was established in the late 1600s to assist sailors before the invention of the train and railway in the mid-1800s expanded the ...

Smaller version Illustration of a conventional atomic fountain clock (left) next to NPL’s miniature atomic fountain clock.

For many years, cesium atomic clocks have been reliably keeping time around the world. But the future belongs to even more accurate clocks: optical atomic clocks. In a few years' time, they could ...

Researchers demonstrated a new optical atomic clock that uses a single laser and doesn't require cryogenic temperatures. By greatly reducing the size and complexity of atomic clocks without ...

Banner image: A powerful laser shines into a jet of gas, creating a bright plasma and generating ultraviolet light—one component of what could become a fully functioning nuclear clock. (Credit: ...

Atomic clocks and frequency standards represent the pinnacle of precision timekeeping technology. By harnessing the natural oscillatory behaviour of atoms, these devices deliver unparalleled accuracy ...

Where and why tiny, portable, atomic clocks and their precision are needed. How atomic clocks are no longer room- or box-size arrangements. The size, power, and other metrics of a latest-generation ...

What do you get when you put a nuclear physicist, an optical physicist and a crystal-growing maestro together in a laboratory? This is not the beginning of a bad joke, but the starting point for ...

For many years, scientists all around the world have been working towards this goal, now suddenly things are happening very fast: it was only in April that a team led by Prof Thorsten Schumm (TU Wien, ...