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Record-breaking atomic clocks precise enough to measure spacetime distortions

Michael Irving November 28, 2018

In recent tests run by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), experimental atomic clocks have achieved record performance in three metrics, meaning these clocks could help measure the Earth’s gravity more precisely or detect elusive dark matter.

A ytterbium lattice atomic clock, which was used in the new study to make some of ...

Remarkable People

Time travelers welcome at Stephen Hawking's memorial service

Michael Irving May 13, 2018

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, who passed away in March, is set to be interred in Westminster Abbey in June. In a final show of the man’s wit and dedication to the weirder realms of physics, it seems that time travelers are on the guest list.

In a nod to one of his quirky experiments, Stephen Hawking's memorial service is apparently open ...

Physics

Overlooked atom ticks the boxes for better atomic clocks

Michael Irving May 10, 2018

At the heart of an atomic clock are, as the name suggests, atoms of a specific type. Now, physicists at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have found that lutetium atoms could make for more stable atomic clocks.

Lutetium atoms trapped in a vacuum chamber in an atomic clock

Materials

Scientists spot the telltale tick of a time crystal in a kid's toy

Michael Irving May 3, 2018

A time crystal sounds like a sci-fi concept, but they’re very real, and as new research reveals, you might have some in your home already. Scientists at Yale University have now spotted the signature of a time crystal in a common crystal that crops up in off-the-shelf crystal-growing kits for kids.

A monoammonium phosphate crystal, where Yale researchers have now found the telltale tick of a time ...

Physics

Stephen Hawking's final paper bursts the multiverse bubble with a Holographic Universe theory

Michael Irving May 2, 2018

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking passed away earlier this year, but his legacy to science will live on. His final theory on the origin of the universe has now been published, and it offers an interesting departure from earlier ideas about the nature of the “multiverse.”

A new theory on the origin of the universe, put forward in the late Stephen Hawking's ...

Wearables

IWC celebrates 150th anniversary with old-school mechanical digital watch

David Szondy January 16, 2018

Swiss watchmaker IWC is celebrating its 150th anniversary by releasing three limited-edition mechanical digital wristwatches with jumping numerals. They're a modern take on the first commercially marketed digital watches that IWC produced beginning in 1884.

The Pallweber is a tribute to the first commercial digital watch of 1884

Physics

Does quantum tunneling take time or is it instantaneous?

Michael Irving August 7, 2017

In quantum physics particles can tunnel through barriers that they shouldn’t normally be able to. While this process, called quantum tunneling, is well documented, physicists haven’t been able to tell if it happens instantly or takes time, but now a team from the Max Planck Institute has an answer.

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute have determined how long it takes electrons to quantum tunnel

Science

Scientists create time crystals, a rule-bending new form of matter

Michael Irving March 9, 2017

A new phase of matter, called a time crystal, has been created for the first time. In a regular crystal, the atoms are arranged in a pattern that repeats in space, but in a time crystal, that pattern repeats through time. The creation of time crystals marks a new class of non-equilibrium phases.

Researchers have created time crystals, a new phase of matter that repeats a pattern through time, ...

Environment

Google Timelapse traces 32 years of construction and destruction

Michael Irving November 30, 2016

To say that the world has changed since 1984 is an understatement, but it's hard to visualize. Now Google has released Timelapse, cramming 32 years of human progress/destruction into 10 second bites. From exploding cities to vanishing glaciers, let’s take a quick tour around the globe.

Google has unveiled Timelapse, a global interactive video that allows users to see how the world ...

Science

World's most stable atomic clock proves two clocks are better than one

Colin Jeffrey November 29, 2016

Scientists have set a new world record for atomic clock stability using a pair of ytterbium-based timepieces stable down to quintillionths of a second. The researchers believe that their new system may prove invaluable in determining the precision of fundamental universal constants.