Most clocks, from wristwatches to the systems that run GPS and the internet, work by tracking regular, repeating motions. To build a clock, you need something that ticks in a perfectly repeatable way.

For many years, cesium atomic clocks have been reliably keeping time around the world. But the future belongs to even more accurate clocks: optical atomic clocks. In a few years' time, they could ...

Atomic clocks are established as the most precise timekeepers created. Atomic clocks work by deploying lasers to measure the vibrations of atoms (electromagnetic signals). By atoms oscillating at a ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. A new study suggests trapped-ion atomic clocks could detect quantum superpositions of time, opening a path toward uniting quantum ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. (koto_feja/Getty Images) A breakthrough in chronometry decades in the making could redefine the limits of how we keep time. Using ...

In popular culture, lasers are often portrayed as portable blasters that superheat whatever they hit. Some lasers do deliver tremendous amounts of energy in reality, but for scientists and engineers, ...

Vladan Vuletić with members of his Experimental Atomic Physics group. From left to right: Matthew Radzihovsky, Leon Zaporski, Qi Liu, Vladan Vuletić, and Gustavo Velez. Every time you check the time ...

Most clocks, from wristwatches to the systems that run GPS and the internet, work by tracking regular, repeating motions. To build a clock, you need something that ticks in a perfectly repeatable way.