For years, physicists have been trying to design clocks that can measure tiny durations of time with extreme precision. Quantum clocks, in particular, have pushed the boundaries by using the strange ...

Quantum timekeeping is supposed to be the ultimate in efficiency, with tiny devices that tick using the rules of quantum mechanics instead of swinging pendulums or vibrating quartz. Yet new work on a ...

A study led by the University of Oxford has identified a surprising source of entropy in quantum timekeeping—the act of measurement itself. In a study published in Physical Review Letters, scientists ...

Every second of modern life runs on precision — from GPS navigation to the time signals that keep the internet in sync. But scientists at MIT and Harvard have just taken precision to an entirely new ...

From left to right, Adam Kaufman, Nelson Darkwah Oppong, Alec Cao and Theo Lukin Yelin inspect an optical atomic clock at JILA on the CU Boulder campus. (Credit: Patrick Campbell/CU Boulder) Imagine ...

Scientists built a tiny clock from single-electron jumps to probe the true energy cost of quantum timekeeping. They discovered that reading the clock’s output requires vastly more energy than the ...

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates recently surprised the industry by bringing Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s stated timeline for quantum computing forward by almost a decade, saying that its phenomenal ...

The steady tick of a clock usually feels simple and dependable. Something swings or vibrates in a controlled rhythm and marks the passing of each moment. What you rarely notice is the hidden cost ...

Quantum technologies—devices that operate according to quantum mechanical principles—promise to bring users some groundbreaking innovations in whichever context they appear. Ironically, the same ...

Graphic illustrating the difference in energy between running a quantum clock (left: a single electron hopping between two nanoscale regions) and reading the ticks of the clock (right). The energy ...