[Engadget] Gurus develop way to shrink atomic clock... with lasers - Overclock.net

Admiral Mudkipz · 03-15-09

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The world's most accurate clocks got even more accurate just a few years back, but now a team from the University of Nevada in Reno is looking to make the atomic clock way, way smaller. Housed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, Colorado, these so-called "fountain clocks" send out clouds of caesium atoms through a vacuum chamber in a magnetic field; from there, microwaves in the chamber excite the atoms and then emit light as they drop to a lower hyperfine state. All that rocket science aside, the real point here is that all that magic requires a chassis about the size of a modern day refrigerator. Andrei Derevianko and Kyle Beloy have conjured up the idea of "trapping atoms in place using lasers," which would obviously require far less space for the time telling to happen. Just think -- a chicken in every pot and an atomic clock on every wrist.

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logo199 · 03-15-09

caesium! totally fun at pool parties.

stargate125645 · 03-15-09

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Originally Posted by logo199

caesium! totally fun at pool parties.

And safe too because you can escape the death and destruction through the hole in the Earth you'd create by putting the cesium in the pool.

voice · 03-15-09

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Originally Posted by logo199

caesium! totally fun at pool parties.

Nah Francium is way more fun.

AOwpr · 03-15-09

What's with all the lasers recently? First it was military, then private contracters to protect against the future AI revolution, then mosquito killers, and now this... which is arguably the coolest of all (not sarcasm, btw--I'm obsessed with timekeeping, lol).

kaivorth · 03-15-09

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Originally Posted by AOwpr

What's with all the lasers recently? First it was military, then private contracters to protect against the future AI revolution, then mosquito killers, and now this... which is arguably the coolest of all (not sarcasm, btw--I'm obsessed with timekeeping, lol).

Well there much more efficient than wires. Less material being used, so much faster, able to hold more energy, we just have to harness it.

Licht · 03-15-09

That level of accuracy doesn't need to be on your wrist. I can see why you would like them smaller. But really no thank you on the part where you want me to pay up for an atomic wrist watch.

lolhax · 03-15-09

Frickin' lasers!

Admiral Mudkipz · 03-15-09

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Originally Posted by lolhax

Frickin' lasers!

RaBidRaBit · 03-15-09

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Originally Posted by logo199

caesium! totally fun at pool parties.

lol...yeah, as long as it isn't your pool or your friends. The only proper everyday use for caesium is fishing.

As for the shrinking with lasers...old news....Wayne Szalinski did this in the 80's. There was a great documentary about him accidentally shrinking his children and then having to find them in his backyard. Brilliant man, that Szalinski.

03-15-09	#2 (permalink)
logo199 cough Stock cough Join Date: May 2007 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 1,187 Rep: 97 Unique Rep: 87 Trader Rating: 0	caesium! totally fun at pool parties. __________________ avatar by MaKaVeLi They can, unless their processors are designed by ninjas, who only CHOOSE to obey the laws of physics when they want to. Ask a ninja, it's true. -voice Complaining about SLi and 3DMark scores is about as useless here as complaining about the towing capacity of a Ferrari Enzo. -MNiceGuy Bring her flowers, take her out to a fancy dinner, and then pop the question, "Will you buy me a video card?" -RussianGrimmReaper **I realize that buckets of people don't like steam...they view it as communism in the sense that it works well in theory* but not reality... -x7337H***

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[Engadget] Gurus develop way to shrink atomic clock... with lasers

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