Two independent teams of scientists have created the first functional clocks that can keep ultraprecise time using the nuclei ...

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

By using a rare thorium nucleus as a timekeeper, physicists have demonstrated the first working nuclear clock, a device that could lead to even more precise clocks and new ways to search for dark ...

The nucleus of an atom is now the modern version of sand flowing through an hourglass. Researchers have spent 15 years trying to increase accuracy in timekeeping. The U.S. standard currently relies on ...

University of Queensland researchers have made a breakthrough in muonic atom research, clearing the way for new nuclear physics experiments. A team at the UQ School of Mathematics and Physics has ...

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The time is nigh for nuclear clocks. In a first, scientists have used a tabletop laser to bump an atomic nucleus into a higher energy state. It’s a feat that sets scientists on a path toward creating ...

Physicists have been hoping for this moment for a long time: For many years, scientists all around the world have been searching for a very specific state of thorium atomic nuclei that promises ...

Atomic, molecular and optical (AMO) physics explores the quantum behaviour of electrons, atoms and light, and their mutual interactions across energy, length and time scales. In atoms and molecules, ...

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 ...