On December 31, 2016, a "leap second" will be added to the world's clocks at 23 hours, 59 minutes 59 seconds Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). This corresponds to 6:59:59 pm Eastern Standard Time, when the extra second will ...
Space Exploration
Jul 6, 2016
2
1640
Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have "entangled" or linked together the properties of up to 219 beryllium ions (charged atoms) to create a quantum simulator. The simulator is designed ...
Quantum Physics
Jun 9, 2016
7
1900
We all intuitively understand the basics of time. Every day we count its passage and use it to schedule our lives.
Space Exploration
Jun 8, 2016
1
28
GPS-based navigation, communication systems, electrical power grids and financial networks all rely on the precise time kept by a network of around 500 atomic clocks located around the world.
Optics & Photonics
May 25, 2016
6
590
Jan Thomsen, Associate Professor and head of the Ultracold Atoms research group at the Niels Bohr Institute is part of a grant of 14 million kroner to participate in an EU project to develop ultra-precise atomic clocks that ...
General Physics
May 3, 2016
0
12
The Internet Time Service operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) serves much of the Earth, with customers from around the globe. In one month of study alone, just two of the 20 NIST servers ...
General Physics
Mar 8, 2016
0
9
Atomic clock experts from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) are the first research group in the world to have built an optical single-ion clock which attains an accuracy which had only been predicted theoretically ...
General Physics
Feb 10, 2016
0
19
It is no split-second decision. In fact, countries are at such odds over whether to do away with the "leap second"—an extra second periodically added to compensate for irregularities in the earth's rotation around the ...
Space Exploration
Nov 19, 2015
3
90
Europe's fifth and sixth Galileo satellites – subject to complex salvage manoeuvres following their launch last year into incorrect orbits – will help to perform an ambitious year-long test of Einstein's most famous theory.
Space Exploration
Nov 9, 2015
1
89
The GPS network might just be Earth's greatest piece of infrastructure. It's effectively a collection of clocks in space that serve up time information 24/7 free of charge to anyone on the planet who cares to listen.
Engineering
Aug 4, 2015
0
19
