The world's first nuclear clock just ticked on — and it could help detect a fifth fundamental force of physics

By using a rare thorium nucleus as a timekeeper, physicists have demonstrated the first working nuclear clock, a device that ...
ScienceAlert on MSN

Success! Physicists build the world's first clocks powered by atomic nuclei

(koto_feja/Getty Images) A breakthrough in chronometry decades in the making could redefine the limits of how we keep time.

Nuclear clock ticks for the first time, using a thorium-229 atomic nucleus

World's first thorium-229 nuclear clock shows potential for ultra-precise timekeeping and fundamental physics tests.
Nature

‘Nuclear clock’ breakthrough paves the way for super-precise timekeeping

Physicists have demonstrated all the ingredients of a nuclear clock — a device that keeps time by measuring tiny energy shifts inside an atomic nucleus. Such clocks could lead to vast improvements in ...
CNN

Physics breakthrough brings nuclear clock closer to reality

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Picture a clock ...
Science Daily

Researchers simplify design of optical atomic clocks without compromising performance

Researchers 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 without ...
Phys.org

Innovative optical atomic clock could combine single-ion accuracy with multi-ion stability

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 ...
EurekAlert!

The world's first nuclear clock

For many years, scientists all around the world have been working towards this goal, now suddenly things are happening very fast: it was only in April that a team led by Prof Thorsten Schumm (TU Wien, ...

Why does NASA need to use atomic clocks in space?

When it comes to navigation in outer space, keeping precise time is incredibly important, that's why NASA needs to use ...
Phys.org

Image: Micro-world within an atomic clock

What looks like an aerial shot of an alien landscape is actually a scanning electron microscope view of a test glass surface, acquired as part of a project to improve the lifetime of spaceborne atomic ...
EurekAlert!

Milestone for novel atomic clock

An international research team has taken a decisive step toward a new generation of atomic clocks. At the European XFEL X-ray laser, the researchers have created a much more precise pulse generator ...
Science Daily

Atomic nucleus excited with laser: a breakthrough after decades

For the first time, the state of an atomic nucleus was switched with a laser. For decades, physicists have been looking for such a nuclear transition -- now it has been found. This opens up a new ...