In the digital world, almost everything relies on ultra-precise clocks running behind the scenes. Scientific research has now brought new improvements to the “tick-tock” of these clocks, enhancing the accuracy of navigation devices and improving the operation of many businesses.
Although you may have never seen one, accurate atomic clocks have been at the core of key digital technologies for decades, such as the indispensable Global Positioning System (GPS). Breakthroughs from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder have laid the foundation for a new and astonishingly accurate nuclear clock.
In today’s world, almost every new device in households and offices is interconnected via the internet. Therefore, a new standard for measuring time based on this breakthrough could potentially bring changes to various aspects of society.
Understanding this cutting-edge technological breakthrough does not require complex mathematics. Just recall some high school courses that showed everything around you is composed of different types of atoms, with each atom consisting of electrons orbiting almost infinitely small atomic nuclei.
Atoms vibrate very reliably and precisely on a tiny scale, allowing scientists to build atomic clocks that have an error of less than a second over millions of years by accurately measuring the vibrations of atoms like cesium or rubidium. The new breakthrough published in the journal Nature on September 4 goes far beyond the precision of atomic vibrations.
The team used special ultraviolet lasers to penetrate the electron cloud surrounding the atomic nucleus of certain radioactive elements like uranium to observe how the nucleus vibrates. Since the nucleus vibrates much faster than the entire atom, building a more accurate clock by precisely measuring its vibrations is possible. Clocks manufactured based on this technology could even have an error of less than a second over billions of years.
That is the simple principle of a nuclear clock. But why should you care about this? Because ultra-precise time measurements are crucial for ensuring that all interconnected devices on the internet can communicate with each other quickly and reliably.
This means that every smartphone, smart home device, personal computer, tablet, or wearable technology used at home and in the office, to some extent, relies on atomic clocks. In certain industries, precise timing is even more critical, such as in satellite communications and stock trading, where differences of microseconds in the completion time of digital transactions could lead to changes in profits worth millions of dollars.
The accuracy of atomic clocks is also crucial for navigation: super-precise timing is the basis for the entire GPS system to send signals to your iPhone, letting you know your location within a few yards.
Therefore, improving the accuracy of the clocks driving this technology could potentially accelerate internet speed, enhance network reliability, improve the mathematical foundations of digital security, and help calculate your location on Earth more accurately.
The impact of the breakthrough of nuclear clocks may not be immediately visible in the coming years, but it is a significant advancement for the future of digital devices. This innovation comes at a time when discussions are being held on accurate timing issues: What is the time on the moon? This might sound absurd, but we have long established the so-called “standard” time on Earth, namely Greenwich Mean Time.
However, there is no such standard on the moon yet. This becomes particularly crucial when coordinating satellites and landers sent to the moon by different countries and private companies. Especially for projects like the Artemis Moon missions to establish a permanent human base on the lunar surface, this will become even more critical. NIST has just released the standard time for the moon, and future astronauts will be able to use the lunar positioning system to determine their location. ◇