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Atomic Clocks: Superaccurate Time Keeping |
| Section: NATURAL SCIENCE / IMPACTS |
| Author: Steve Voynick |
| Publication: The world & I online |
| Issue Date: 1/1/1997 |
| Size: 2,688 Words, 18,554 Characters |
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The familiar phrase "Got the time?" has far more than casual significance in our lives. Our modern concept of time, especially from the perspective of science and industry, is one of superaccuracy--that is, of extraordinarily precise time derived from atomic clocks.
Uses of atomic clocks and their superaccurate time are not limited to laboratories. We set our watches to radio time signals adjusted to atomic clock time standards. Our commercial radio programming frequencies are precisely calibrated by atomic clocks. And the global positioning system instruments that tell us our precise locations anywhere on Earth depend on atomic clocks on orbiting satellites.
Superaccurate time is even the basis for our standard measures of length. The standard meter is defined as the distance light ...
. . .
... resonance of such elemental isotopes as mercury 199 occurs in ultraviolet frequencies. This ideal "pendulum" may provide accuracies a thousand times greater than those of today's cesium clocks.
So the answer to the old question "Got the time?" is "Indeed, we do." And as advanced atomic clocks become even more precise, superaccurate time promises to affect our lives in more ways than ever.
(812 of 18,554 characters)
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