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Nist: New Optical Clock More Accurate Than Cesium

Posted by chrisd on from the lonely-exhibitionsist-ion dept.

LordPhatal writes "NIST researchers have demonstrated a new kind of atomic clock that has the potential to be up to 1,000 times more accurate than today's best clock. The new clock is based on an energy transition in a single trapped mercury ion.

1 of 44 comments (clear)

  1. Re:um by akiaki007 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    We know how long a second is. Time as we measure it is based on Earth's rotation and revolution.

    What this measument is, is that it will not deteriorate over time as most methods of time measurement do currently. That is why it is so accurate. What that really means it that over time it will prove to be more accurate than anything else that we have created. A second will still be a second, and it's lenght will not change now.

    --
    "Time is long and life is short, so begin to live while you still can." -EV