The US Air Force is turning to atomic clock technology to help coordinate swarms of small drones in environments where traditional satellite navigation is jammed or spoofed, according to a new request ...

For many years, cesium atomic clocks have been reliably keeping time around the world. But the future belongs to even more accurate clocks: optical atomic clocks. In a few years' time, they could ...

Physicists have demonstrated all the ingredients of a nuclear clock — a device that keeps time by measuring tiny energy shifts inside an atomic nucleus. Such clocks could lead to vast improvements in ...

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Picture a clock ...

Researchers demonstrated a new optical atomic clock that uses a single laser and doesn't require cryogenic temperatures. By greatly reducing the size and complexity of atomic clocks without ...

What do you get when you put a nuclear physicist, an optical physicist and a crystal-growing maestro together in a laboratory? This is not the beginning of a bad joke, but the starting point for ...

A new comb-like computer chip could be the key to equipping drones, smartphones and autonomous vehicles with military-grade positioning technology that was previously confined to space agencies and ...

For decades, atomic clocks have provided the most stable means of timekeeping. They measure time by oscillating in step with the resonant frequency of atoms, a method so accurate that it serves as the ...

The universal need to be on time keeps everyone on the move, shaping society into a permanently well-oiled machine. Whether you find yourself glancing at a clock on the wall or checking your phone, ...