SoylentNews

Record Breaking Clock Accurate to one Second in 15 Billion Years

posted by martyb on Wednesday April 22 2015, @08:47PM   
from the let-the-good-times-roll dept.

AnonTechie writes:

Physicists have said they have fine-tuned an atomic clock to the point where it won’t lose or gain a second in 15bn years – longer than the universe has existed.

The “optical lattice” clock ( http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150421/ncomms7896/full/ncomms7896.html ), which uses strontium atoms, is now three times more accurate than a year ago when it set the previous world record, its developers reported in the journal Nature Communications.

The advance brings science a step closer to replacing the current gold standard in timekeeping: the caesium fountain clock that is used to set Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the official world time.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/apr/22/record-breaking-clock-invented-which-only-loses-a-second-in-15-billion-years

[Also Covered By]: http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/22/8466681/most-accurate-atomic-clock-optical-lattice-strontium

• Meaningless math Meaningless math (Score: 2, Disagree) by Dunbal on Wednesday April 22 2015, @10:54PM

  by Dunbal (3515) on Wednesday April 22 2015, @10:54PM (#174149)

  Another fine example of meaningless math. I'm willing to bet that this clock will suffer some sort of failure much before 15 billion years pass, if only because of the extinction of the human race meaning it no longer gets serviced. But I'm willing to bet that some component fails long before that happens. I mean honestly what is even the point of calculating such a number?

  Starting Score:	1		point
  Moderation		0
  Disagree=2, Total=2
  Extra 'Disagree' Modifier		0
  Karma-Bonus Modifier		+1
  Total Score:		2

• Re:Meaningless math (Score: 3, Informative) by lentilla on Thursday April 23 2015, @06:54AM

  by lentilla (1770) on Thursday April 23 2015, @06:54AM (#174209)

  what is even the point of calculating such a number?

  Measuring stuff. The history of science is a timeline of progressively better methods and instruments of measuring our physical world.

  Here's some interesting titbits:

  • It took until the mid 18th century to get a marine chronometer [wikipedia.org] sufficiently accurate and reliable to calculate longitude. Many lives have been saved as a direct consequence of knowing where you are.
  • Did you know that you can measure altitude with a pendulum clock? By 1817, physicist Henry Kater [wikipedia.org] had invented a clock that was accurate enough to calculate the local gravity. This led to more accurate geodetic surveys.
  • By 1971 we had accurate enough clocks to be able to confirm time dilation [wikipedia.org] by flying atomic clocks around the world.
  • Now we have a clock so accurate that "what time is it?" is an easily measured local phenomena.

  Measuring our world is a way of defining our place in the universe. Practical applications aside, the fact that we are able to measure things - especially things we can't see - fills me with wonder and a genuine sense of pride in the human race.

  Parent

• Re:Meaningless math (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 23 2015, @12:11PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 23 2015, @12:11PM (#174255)

  I mean honestly what is even the point of calculating such a number?

  You can express the very same ratio as 1 nanosecond in 15 years. Does it still sound pointless?

  Parent

• Re:Meaningless math (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday April 23 2015, @02:01PM

  by khallow (3766) on Thursday April 23 2015, @02:01PM (#174299) Journal

  I too am only concerned about what time my watch will show in 15 billion years. I fear it may well be off by more than a second.

  Parent