Scientists restart the atomic clock, making it much more accurate – BGR

  • Scientists from MIT have developed what they believe to be the most accurate atomic clock ever built.
  • The clock, which uses the quantum input of atoms and elements differently than most atomic clocks, could be more accurate over long periods of time than conventional models.
  • The researchers say their clock could be used to measure very small moments thanks to the novel element used.

The watch on your wrist may look just right from day to day but it is nothing compared to atomic clocks. Scientists use atomic clocks for a number of purposes, and the more accurate they are, the better they have provided useful data. But while the most common atomic clocks are in a more accurate order of magnitude than your standard wall clock, they are not perfect.

Now, a team of researchers has developed what they say is even more accurate than anything else in use today, and over a span of billions of years, it would be a shame on most other atomic clocks. That is a bold stand, but the scientists seem to have the data to support it.


The main contract of the day at BGR

FDA EUA-authorized coronavirus masks are nearly half off the regular $ 45 price tag at Amazon Price:$ 25.49 Available from Amazon, BGR may receive a commission Buy now


One or two things are working to make this new atomic clock more accurate than anything before it. For starters, the team used atoms of ytterbium instead of the most common cesium which is often used in atomic clocks. Ytterbium vibrates 100,000 times more frequently per second than cesium, allowing smaller units of time to be measured.

In addition, the scientists used bound grains for their clock. Quantum input is a very strange feature of quantum mechanics that essentially allows two bases to be measured by simply observing one of them. Two connected bases are connected by devices that are not yet poorly understood, and seem to receive information from each other at speeds faster than light, throwing classic physics out the window.

With regard to this new atomic clock, the atoms involved proved to be more precise in shaking than random clouds of atoms, making this atomic device as precise as it needed to be a valuable effort.

“Light acts as a communication link between atoms,” Chi Shu, co-author of the research, said in a statement. “The first atom that sees this light changes the light slightly, and that light also changes the second atom, and the third atom, and through many circles, the atoms both know each other. and start the same behavior. ”

Now, this is not to say that today’s atomic clocks are not good. In fact, the researchers note that if you started a modern atomic clock at the beginning of the world’s birth – about 13.8 billion years ago – and ran through it to the present day. today, it would only be about half a second of it. However, if that same clock used connected atoms as a new MIT model, it would be less than 100 milliseconds of it, which is certainly a huge improvement.

Mike Wehner has been reporting on technology and video games for the past decade, covering news and trends in VR, wearables, smartphones, and the future of tech. Mike was most recently a Tech Editor at The Daily Dot, and has appeared in USA Today, Time.com, and in countless web and print outlets. His love of narrating only second place on his game thesis.

.Source