Nuclear clocks are a technology researchers have been working toward for decades. New research in theoretical physics brings them closer to reality.

"In setting the clock closer to midnight, we send a stark signal. Because the world is already perilously close to the precipice, any move towards midnight should be taken as an indication of extreme ...

Physicists are quietly rewriting one of the most basic units in science, using a new generation of optical clocks that can ...

In 2008, a team of UCLA-led scientists proposed a scheme to use a laser to excite the nucleus of thorium atoms to realize extremely accurate, portable clocks. Last year, they realized this ...

The nucleus of an atom is now the modern version of sand flowing through an hourglass. Researchers have spent 15 years trying to increase accuracy in timekeeping. The U.S. standard currently relies on ...

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The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the Doomsday Clock to 89 seconds to midnight, one second more than the last two years, attributed to threats posed by climate change and artificial ...

Ekkehard Peik is a clock-maker. But instead of spending his days looking at tiny cogs and springs through a magnifying glass, the tools of his trade are powerful lasers, wires and, occasionally, ...

The official definition of the second is set to be updated for the first time in decades. The change will be based on new ...

There are significantly different architectures for what are known as “atomic” clocks. Optically driven atomic clocks offer a new set of performance attributes. The optical atomic clocks use paired ...

The world is closer than ever to destruction, according to the Doomsday Clock, an attempt by the Chicago-based Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to warn world leaders and civilians of man-made global ...