Breakthrough could pave the way for next-generation GPS in drones, smartphones and self-driving cars, scientists say.

Inside a laboratory nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, amid a labyrinth of lenses, mirrors, and other optical machinery bolted to a vibration-resistant table, an apparatus resembling a ...

For decades, atomic clocks have provided the most stable means of timekeeping. They measure time by oscillating in step with the resonant frequency of atoms, a method so accurate that it serves as the ...

Every single day, humans rely on hundreds of hidden clocks. GPS location, Internet stability, stock trading, power grid management ... all rely on atomic clocks in order to work. Many of those clocks ...

Alfredo has a PhD in Astrophysics and a Master's in Quantum Fields and Fundamental Forces from Imperial College London. Alfredo has a PhD in Astrophysics and a Master's in Quantum Fields and ...

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 ...

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 ...

Atomic clocks use quantum physics and the resonant frequency of atoms, like cesium, to define time. Modern timekeeping relies on the accuracy of atomic clocks, which revolutionized timekeeping by ...

The European Space Agency’s ACES mission could ultimately pave the way for a global network of atomic clocks that make these measurements far more accurate. In 2003, engineers from Germany and ...

NIST scientists have published results establishing a new atomic clock, NIST-F4, as one of the world’s most accurate timekeepers, priming the clock to be recognized as a primary frequency standard — ...

Smaller version Illustration of a conventional atomic fountain clock (left) next to NPL’s miniature atomic fountain clock. (Courtesy: NPL) A miniature version of an atomic fountain clock has been ...