News tagged with atomic clocks
Redefining time
Atomic clocks based on the oscillations of a cesium atom keep amazingly steady time and also define the precise length of a second. But cesium clocks are no longer the most accurate. That title has been transferred ...
Apr 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (7) |
41
|
Atomic clock comparison via data highways
(Phys.org) -- Optical atomic clocks measure time with unprecedented accuracy. However, it is the ability to compare clocks with one another that makes them applicable for high-precision tests in fundamental ...
Apr 27, 2012 |
not rated yet |
3
|
NASA to fly atomic clock to improve space navigation
(Phys.org) -- When people think of space technologies, many think of high-tech solar panels, complex and powerful propulsion systems or sophisticated, electronic guidance systems. Another critical piece of ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Apr 11, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
|
No-photon laser: Physicists demonstrate 'superradiant' laser design
Physicists at JILA have demonstrated a novel "superradiant" laser design, which has the potential to be 100 to 1,000 times more stable than the best conventional visible lasers. This type of laser could boost ...
Apr 04, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (14) |
7
|
The tick-tock of the optical clock
(PhysOrg.com) -- UK's National Physical Laboratory time scientists have made an accurate measurement of the highly forbidden octupole transition frequency in an ytterbium ion, which could be used as the basis ...
Mar 29, 2012 |
3.8 / 5 (10) |
3
|
Darpa chip-scale atomic clocks aboard International Space Station
Atomic clocks are the most accurate frequency standard and timing devices in the world. Their range of uses include being the international standard for timekeeping, managing broadcasts and satellite positioning, ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Mar 28, 2012 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
Ultracold matter technology licensed to Boulder’s ColdQuanta
ColdQuanta Inc. of Boulder and the University of Colorado have finalized an agreement allowing ColdQuanta to commercialize cutting-edge physics research developed by CU-Boulder and SRI International. The licensed ...
Mar 19, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
New 'pendulum' for the ytterbium clock
The faster a clock ticks, the more precise it can be. Due to the fact that lightwaves vibrate faster than microwaves, optical clocks can be more precise than the caesium atomic clocks which presently determine ...
Mar 09, 2012 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
1
|
Proposed nuclear clock may keep time with the Universe
(PhysOrg.com) -- A proposed new time-keeping system tied to the orbiting of a neutron around an atomic nucleus could have such unprecedented accuracy that it neither gains nor loses 1/20th of a second in 14 ...
Mar 08, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (27) |
11
|
Precision time: A matter of atoms, clocks, and statistics
Time is of the essence, especially in communications, navigation, and electric power distribution, which all demand nanosecond precision or better. Keeping these beating hearts of technology in near-perfect global synchronization ...
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
0
Physicists create first 'frequency comb' to probe ultraviolet wavelengths
Physicists at JILA have created the first "frequency comb" in the extreme ultraviolet band of the spectrum, high-energy light less than 100 nanometers (nm) in wavelength. Laser-generated frequency combs are the most accurate ...
Feb 01, 2012 |
5 / 5 (6) |
4
|
World timekeepers split on scrapping leap second
Timekeepers meeting in Geneva failed to agree Thursday on a proposal to abolish a 40-year-old practice of adding the occasional second to world time.
Jan 19, 2012 |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
9
'Leap second' under the gun at Geneva time talks
Timekeepers gathered in Geneva on Thursday to thrash out a contested proposal to abolish a 40-year-old practice of adding the occasional second to world time.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jan 19, 2012 |
5 / 5 (2) |
3
Countries consider time out on the 'leap second'
It's high noon for the humble leap second. After ten years of talks, governments are headed for a showdown vote this week on an issue that pits technological precision against nature's whims.
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jan 17, 2012 |
3 / 5 (2) |
18
The nuclear, biological and climate threat - 2011 reviewed
In this special issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, published by SAGE, experts reflect on 2011 and highlight what to look out for in 2012 in the areas of nuclear energy, nuclear weapons, biosecurity, and climat ...
Technology / Energy & Green Tech
Jan 06, 2012 |
not rated yet |
1
Atomic clock
An atomic clock is a type of clock that uses an atomic resonance frequency standard as its timekeeping element. They are the most accurate time and frequency standards known, and are used as primary standards for international time distribution services, and to control the frequency of television broadcasts and GPS satellite signals.
Atomic clocks do not use radioactivity, but rather the precise microwave signal that electrons in atoms emit when they change energy levels. Early atomic clocks were masers with attached equipment. Currently the most accurate atomic clocks are based on absorption spectroscopy of cold atoms in atomic fountains such as the NIST-F1.
National standards agencies maintain an accuracy of 10-9 seconds per day (approximately 1 part in 1014), and a precision set by the radio transmitter pumping the maser. The clocks maintain a continuous and stable time scale, International Atomic Time (TAI). For civil time, another time scale is disseminated, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). UTC is derived from TAI, but synchronized, by using leap seconds, to UT1, which is based on actual rotations of the earth with respect to the mean sun.
For more information about Atomic clock, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
