Scientists unveil world’s first clock made from atomic nuclei

Researchers at JILA, a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have unveiled the world’s first nuclear clock.

This new technology uses tiny impulses from atomic nuclei to tell time.

However, currently its accuracy is not higher than that of conventional atomic clocks.

The team of scientists who published their findings in Nature note that while they are not yet at that point with their ongoing research on nuclear clocks, their observations bring them closer to that level of precision.

“Imagine a watch that won’t lose a single second even if you leave it on for billions of years,” said Jun Ye, a physicist at NIST and JILA, in the NIST release.

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“While we’re not there yet, this research brings us closer to that level of precision.”

One scientist says they have shown that thorium can be used as a timekeeper for extremely precise measurements with the launch of the first prototype nuclear clock.

“With this prototype, we have proven: Thorium can be used as a timekeeper for very high-precision measurements,” said team member Thorsten Schumm, a physicist at TU Wien, in a university release.

“All that remains is technical development work, with no further major hurdles to be expected.”

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