News tagged with atomic clock

Precision time: A matter of atoms, clocks, and statistics

Time is of the essence, especially in communications, navigation, and electric power distribution, which all demand nanosecond precision or better. Keeping these beating hearts of technology in near-perfect global synchronization ...

Physics / General Physics

created Feb 01, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Physicists create first 'frequency comb' to probe ultraviolet wavelengths

Physicists at JILA have created the first "frequency comb" in the extreme ultraviolet band of the spectrum, high-energy light less than 100 nanometers (nm) in wavelength. Laser-generated frequency combs are the most accurate ...

Physics / General Physics

created Feb 01, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

World timekeepers split on scrapping leap second

Timekeepers meeting in Geneva failed to agree Thursday on a proposal to abolish a 40-year-old practice of adding the occasional second to world time.

Technology / Telecom

created Jan 19, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 9

'Leap second' under the gun at Geneva time talks

Timekeepers gathered in Geneva on Thursday to thrash out a contested proposal to abolish a 40-year-old practice of adding the occasional second to world time.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jan 19, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 3

Countries consider time out on the 'leap second'

It's high noon for the humble leap second. After ten years of talks, governments are headed for a showdown vote this week on an issue that pits technological precision against nature's whims.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Jan 17, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 18

The nuclear, biological and climate threat - 2011 reviewed

In this special issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, published by SAGE, experts reflect on 2011 and highlight what to look out for in 2012 in the areas of nuclear energy, nuclear weapons, biosecurity, and climat ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Jan 06, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

More accurate than Santa Claus: First Galileo satellite orbit determination with high precision

Every year for Christmas, the North American Air Defence Command NORAD posts an animation on their website, in which the exact flight path of Santa Claus' sled led by reindeer Rudolf is precisely located (http://www.noradsanta.org/en/). The path of navigation satellites, however, ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 23, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

New generation GPS satellite starts tests in Colo.

A $5.5 billion upgrade to the Global Positioning System moved a step closer to launch this week when a prototype arrived at a Lockheed Martin complex in Colorado to begin months of tests.

Technology / Telecom

created Dec 13, 2011 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Research team shows nuclear clock could be 60 times more accurate than atomic clock

(PhysOrg.com) -- For almost sixty years, the world has considered the atomic clock the gold standard for keeping time. Its accuracy is such that it drifts by only about four seconds over a period of about ...

Physics / General Physics

created Nov 09, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (10) | comments 51 | with audio podcast report

Nobel Prize-winning physicist Norman Ramsey dies

(AP) -- Norman Ramsey, who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in physics for his research into molecules and atoms that led to the creation of the atomic clock, has died in Massachusetts. He was 96.

Physics / General Physics

created Nov 07, 2011 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Putting artificial atoms on the clock

Around the turn of the century, scientists began to understand that atoms have discrete energy levels. Within the field of quantum physics, this sparked the development of quantum optics in which light is ...

Physics / General Physics

created Nov 07, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Scientists meet to discuss usefulness of GMT

Leading scientists from around the world are meeting in Britain from Thursday to consider a proposal that could eventually see Greenwich Mean Time relegated to a footnote in history.

Other Sciences / Other

created Nov 03, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (9) | comments 12

NASA to test new atomic clock

When people think of space technologies, many think of solar panels, propulsion systems and guidance systems. One important piece of technology in spaceflight is an accurate timing device.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 17, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (5) | comments 0

Factfile on Galileo, Europe's rival to GPS

Following is a snapshot of Europe's Galileo space-based navigation system, the first satellites of which are scheduled to be launched on Thursday from Kourou, French Guiana.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 16, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (3) | comments 4

New record for measurement of atomic lifetime

Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute have measured the lifetime of an extremely stable energy level of magnesium atoms with great precision. Magnesium atoms are used in research with ultra-precise atomic ...

Physics / General Physics

created Sep 07, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0