Mercury yields best measure of a second so far.

The clock is proof that optical clocks, which count miniscule fractions of a second using visible or ultraviolet laser light, can outperform the current generation of atomic timepieces. It could also open the door to a new era of precision measurements of fundamental constants, according to Jim Bergquist, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado, who headed the study published in the 14 July issue of Physical Review Letters.

Read the story here.

Mercury yields best measure of a second so far.

The clock is proof that optical clocks, which count miniscule fractions of a second using visible or ultraviolet laser light, can outperform the current generation of atomic timepieces. It could also open the door to a new era of precision measurements of fundamental constants, according to Jim Bergquist, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado, who headed the study published in the 14 July issue of Physical Review Letters.

Read the story here.