The world's first nuclear clocks have ticked. A team of physicists has demonstrated a working timekeeping device regulated not by orbiting electrons — as in conventional atomic clocks — but by ...

For decades, physicists have pursued a goal that sounds nearly impossible: to build a clock that keeps time using an atom's nucleus rather than the electrons orbiting it. "Having worked in this field ...

The best timekeepers today—atomic clocks—work off the quantum vibrations of an atom, specifically its electrons. But physicists have long dreamt of even better clocks that run on atomic nuclei, which ...

For the first time, scientists used an atomic nucleus as a clock. The world’s most precise timepieces are made using atoms, specifically their electrons. But clocks based on atomic nuclei — protons ...

Researchers are looking for new ways to improve timekeeping because even small gains in stability can help physicists discover subtle physical effects. The thorium-229 nuclear clock is a newer venture ...

Scientists have built the first working nuclear clock, which uses the vibrations of atomic nuclei to keep time. Nuclear clocks have been sought after for more than two decades and could eventually ...

Nuclear effect The deformed shape of the ytterbium-173 nucleus (right) makes it possible to excite the clock transition with a relatively low-power laser. The same transition is forbidden (left) if ...

For decades, physicists have pursued a goal that sounds nearly impossible: to build a clock that keeps time using an atom's nucleus rather than the electrons orbiting it. Now, researchers have ...