By using a rare thorium nucleus as a timekeeper, physicists have demonstrated the first working nuclear clock, a device that ...

(koto_feja/Getty Images) A breakthrough in chronometry decades in the making could redefine the limits of how we keep time.

First dreamed up decades ago, the world's first nuclear clocks are set to improve quickly, becoming more precise and aiding ...

But physicists have long dreamt of even better clocks that run on atomic nuclei, which are less sensitive to environmental ...

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Two independent research teams have achieved a longstanding goal in physics: building a working nuclear clock. The devices, ...

For the first time, the state of an atomic nucleus was switched with a laser. For decades, physicists have been looking for such a nuclear transition -- now it has been found. This opens up a new ...

Nuclear clocks could allow scientists to probe the fundamental forces of the universe in the future. Researchers have made a crucial advance in this area as part of an international collaboration.

For decades, nuclear clocks have existed as one of physics’ most tempting promises. A ...

Most clocks, from wristwatches to the systems that run GPS and the internet, work by tracking regular, repeating motions. To build a clock, you need something that ticks in a perfectly repeatable way.

James is a published author with multiple pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, space, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.View full profile James is a ...

Astatine is a fast-decaying, and therefore rare element. It has been estimated that in the Earth’s crust there is no more than one tablespoon of astatine. An experiment performed in the Accelerator ...