The leap second – units of time added to the atomic clock every few years to remain synchronised with astronomical time – should be replaced with a leap minute added far less frequently, a leading ...

A new comb-like computer chip could be the key to equipping drones, smartphones and autonomous vehicles with military-grade positioning technology that was previously confined to space agencies and ...

A team of physicists has discovered a surprisingly simple way to build nuclear clocks using tiny amounts of rare thorium. By ...

For decades, atomic clocks have provided the most stable means of timekeeping. They measure time by oscillating in step with the resonant frequency of atoms, a method so accurate that it serves as the ...

WASHINGTON — Researchers have 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 ...

Scientists have developed the most precise and accurate atomic clock to date – if you ran it for twice the current age of the universe, it would only be off by one second. This could not only improve ...

A power outage on Dec. 19 at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) campus in Boulder, Colo., disrupted operation of the NIST-F4 atomic clock. Hurricane force winds and dry ...