Researchers at JILA, a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have unveiled the world’s first nuclear clock.
The novel technology uses minute impulses from an atom’s nucleus to indicate time.
However, it is currently not more accurate than conventional atomic clocks.
The team of scientists that published its findings in Nature noted that although they are not there yet with their ongoing research on the nuclear clock, their observations are bringing them closer to the level of precision.
“Imagine a wristwatch that wouldn’t lose a second even if you left it running for billions of years,” said Jun Ye, a physicist at NIST and JILA, in a NIST release.
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“While we’re not quite there yet, this research brings us closer to that level of precision.”
One of the scientists said they had demonstrated that thorium could be utilized as a timekeeper for extremely precise measurements with the unveiling of the first nuclear clock prototype.
“With this prototype, we have proven: Thorium can be used as a timekeeper for ultra-high-precision measurements,” said team member Thorsten Schumm, a physicist at TU Wien, in a university release.
“All that is left to do is technical development work, with no more major obstacles to be expected.”
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