Unlike other atoms (left), ytterbium-173 (right) has a large nuclear spin and a strongly deformed nucleus whose strong fields interact with the electron shell. This turns forbidden quantum jumps into ...

For centuries, time was tied to Earth’s rotation, with a second defined as a fraction of a full day. But inconsistencies in the planet’s spin made that system unreliable for scientific use. Since 1967 ...

Considering that 90% of American adults own mobile phones, the practice of interrupting strangers to inquire about the time has almost completely disappeared. Since these devices are so prolific in ...

Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. Why Trust Us? Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: Scientists are close to creating a ...

As if timekeeping in the U.S. wasn’t already pretty accurate, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) just declared a new atomic clock, the NIST-F2, to ...

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 ...

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Once considered an unusable byproduct of the U.S. nuclear program, thorium-229—an isotope of the ...