Friday 10 July 2015

Accuracy Redefined

A new paper in Nature Communications gives details on the most accurate atomic clock to ever be built. Researchers from Intel took a clock they produced last year and improved upon the design by adding a pair of highly accurate thermometers, one each to measure the temperature inside and outside of the device. With the data provided they could control for tiny variations between the two and add an extra layer of accuracy to the strontium based clock. The new and improved time keeper is now accurate to one second in 15 billion years. Yes, 15 billion years. That's longer than the universe itself has existed. For context, your wristwatch will lose 1 second every 2 days or so.

Einstein's relativity says that time itself runs slower the further it is measured from a gravity well. This clock is so exquisitely finely tuned that it would run at a noticeably different pace if its height was changed by a mere 2 centimetres.







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