11/11/11 11:11:11

This is providing that my Atomic Clock is correct.

Clocks that do not lose time

Scientists have developed laser clocks that can keep time without missing a beat in nearly two billion years. They are so precise that
they could lead eventually lead to automated cars.

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) based in Boulder, Colorado have developed an advanced clock which measures the vibrations of electrons in mercury ions and go 1.7 billion years without missing a beat.

The new clocks are known as optical clocks and use lasers to measure the frequency with which electrons in atoms vibrate. Currently the most accurate clocks are known as atomic clocks which can measure to an accuracy of one second over 80 million years. As a comparison a
normal wristwatch will lose around 15 seconds a month.

The international committee for weights and measures is planning to replace its atomic clocks with optical ones by 2020.

Scientists believe that installing optical clocks on satellites they will be able to track objects within less than a metre leading to automated motorway driving or landing an aircraft without human intervention.

The European Space Agency has said that they are considering fitting an optical clock to a satellite as part of its cosmic vision programme. This programme will run from 2015 to 2025 exploring ways of using space for scientific advancement.

Scientists in Britain, US, Germany, France and Japan are now competing to make a clock more powerful time so accurately that it will not have lost a second since the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago. They believe this clock will be built within a decade.

_______________________________________________________

Video: New Atomic Clock Reaches A 100 Quadrillionth Of A Second Accuracy

by Serkan Toto From TechCrunch.com

A team of researchers at the University of Tokyo has developed a new type of optical atomic clock that boasts a 100 quadrillionth of a second accuracy (one quadrillion has 15 zeros). The optical lattice clock is the brain child of Professor Katori who says his device observes a million atoms simultaneously whereas conventional atomic clocks measure time by using single atoms.

The Professor explains:

“(…) if one clock is placed one centimeter higher than another clock, the higher clock is affected by less gravity, so it goes faster. That difference could be read out in the 18th decimal place of the clocks in one second averaging time. Until now, clocks have been thought of as tools for sharing a common time. But with clocks like this, conversely, we can understand that time passes at different speeds, depending on the time and place a clock is at.”

The idea is to eventually use the new clock to improve GPS (which is based on atomic clocks delivering 14-or 15-digit accuracy) or to predict earthquakes, for example.

This video (shot by Diginfonews in Tokyo, in English) provides more insight:

______________________________________________

Twisted Design: Telling Time With Toys and Bluetooth

From Gajitz

Who knew that watching a clock work could be so hypnotizing? The Tilted Twister clock from Hans Andersson is composed of two Lego Minstorm bricks connected by Bluetooth. The master brick is in charge of tracking the time and operating the minute digits. The slave brick is responsible for moving the seconds indicator and the hour digits.

Watching the time change ever so slowly from one minute to the next is a surprisingly entertaining venture. The digits all consist of five layers of black and white tiles. The tiles are twisted around by the top layer until they form the appropriate digit.

Staring at the video of this awesome clock is one thing, but it’s so loud that it would probably be a huge pain to live with. Still, it might be worth the irritation just to have such a unique and artful timepiece keeping you grounded in reality.

Related articles