Atomic clock achieves record stability!

[ionbasa]

Atomic clocks built at the official U.S. timekeeping laboratory tick with record-breaking regularity, scientists said — marking an advance that may someday allow researchers to perform new tests of the laws of physics and engineers to perfect technologies such as GPS systems.

The ytterbium optical lattice clocks at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colo., achieved a so-called stability of one part in 1018. In plain English, that means that “if a clock had been running since the Big Bang, by now it would only be off by one second,” said Vladan Vuletic, a physicist at MIT who was not involved in the work.

 

 

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-atomic-clock-stability-nist-20130822,0,6785801.story

 

At first this may not seem computer related, but it is! With this feat we are one step closer to the possibility of quantum computing as the new clock uses atoms to measure time. Also it may help improve GPS accuracy in devices with"sub-centimeter" measurements.

[ProGearUk]

This is pretty cool. Maybe it will help to improve the GPS stability and accuracy in a 2011 Honda CRV

[TheBrenz]

Maybe apple maps would become usable.

[kuddlesworth9419]

Maybe apple maps would become usable.

 

Nice.

[IPCharger]

Maybe apple maps would become usable.

Don't worry, it will become usable once Apple buys 50% of the companies in the GPS industry.

[xBlizzDevious]

Hmm, interesting. I have one question. How do they measure something as the most accurate when you'd need something more accurate to measure it?