First dreamed up decades ago, the world's first nuclear clocks are set to improve quickly, becoming more precise and aiding the hunt for dark matter.

Nuclear clocks should be more robust and portable than the best available clocks today because nuclei are hard to perturb and ...

Atomic clocks are established as the most precise timekeepers created. Atomic clocks work by deploying lasers to measure the vibrations of atoms (electromagnetic signals). By atoms oscillating at a ...

By using a rare thorium nucleus as a timekeeper, physicists have demonstrated the first working nuclear clock, a device that could lead to even more precise clocks and new ways to search for dark ...

Most clocks, from wristwatches to the systems that run GPS and the internet, work by tracking regular, repeating motions. To build a clock, you need something that ticks in a perfectly repeatable way.

For decades, scientists have tried to build a device even more precise than an atomic clock, which keeps time using electrons ...

Every time you check the time on your phone, make an online transaction, or use a navigation app, you are depending on the precision of atomic clocks. Scientists are developing next-generation atomic ...

In popular culture, lasers are often portrayed as portable blasters that superheat whatever they hit. Some lasers do deliver tremendous amounts of energy in reality, but for scientists and engineers, ...

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 ...

A clock based on radioactive thorium atoms realises a long-held ambition, demonstrating a technology that could eventually beat the accuracy of today’s best atomic clocks ...

Without precise time, the modern world collapses - from GPS to the electricity grid. And Switzerland is one of the clock ...