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.

For the first time, an international team of physicists has successfully harnessed a rare orbital transition in atoms of ytterbium to create a new type of atomic clock that is both highly precise and ...

The strange quantum nature of time moves one step closer to being untangled, thanks to new research on optical ion clocks.

Adelaide University researchers have successfully tested a new type of portable atomic clock at sea for the first time, using technology that could help power the next generation of navigation, ...

Keeping perfect time is far trickier than it sounds. The world’s best clocks that are used for GPS navigation, satellite communication, and testing fundamental physics depend on carefully controlled ...

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 ...

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.

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 ...