US scientists debut atomic clock that stays true for 100 million years straight
NIST-F4 is America’s bid for precision timekeeping dominance, accurate to 2.2 parts in 10 quadrillion and critical for finance, GPS, and data centers.
Marvel’s Time Variance Authority (TVA) would probably call dibs on this atomic clock if they could!
The NIST-F4 atomic clock, recently unveiled by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado, is one of the most accurate timekeeping devices ever built on Earth.
This clock is so precise that if it had started ticking during the age of the dinosaurs, it would still be accurate today to within a single second.
This month, NIST scientists officially submitted it to the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) for certification as a “primary frequency standard,” a title reserved for the most elite atomic clocks on the planet.
Only around ten countries operate such clocks — now the U.S. is back in that top tier.
How the clock works
Unlike regular clocks, atomic clocks like NIST-F4 keep time using the natural vibrations of atoms — in this case, cesium atoms.
Inside the clock, thousands of these atoms are cooled to near absolute zero using lasers and then tossed upward in a fountain-like motion.
As they rise and fall, they pass through microwave radiation tuned to a frequency that makes the atoms shift their energy state — a transition that defines the “tick” of the clock.