Atomic clock gets mini-makeover!

News Writer · 16th Oct 2004, 10:54 PM

Quote:

(CNN) -- Punctuality-phobes may soon no longer be able to blame perennial lateness on slow-running watches following the invention of an atomic clock small enough to wear on your wrist.

Scientists at the National Institute for Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado, have taken portable time keeping to new levels of accuracy with the creation of the device, which is driven by inner workings barely bigger than a grain of rice.

The complete working clock would be sugar cube-sized and would run on just 73 milliwatts -- small enough for it to be incorporated into battery-powered handheld devices such as mobile phones.

The clocks currently used in most electronic devices are based on quartz oscillators, in which minute vibrating quartz crystals produce precise pulses. But their accuracy can be adversely affected by factors such as temperature.

By contrast, the atomic clock would be accurate to within a second every 300 years, making it more than 1,000 times more reliable than a very good wristwatch.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/10/...ock/index.html

Adrian Wong · 16th Oct 2004, 11:04 PM

Wow.. That would be very cool.. Anyone want to buy me one?

Viper007Bond · 17th Oct 2004, 09:37 AM

Awesome!

Dashken · 18th Oct 2004, 08:20 PM

No need to worry about batteries...

Adrian Wong · 18th Oct 2004, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dashken

No need to worry about batteries...

Oh.. Poor CS5.. No more use for his NiMH batteries!

Viper007Bond · 18th Oct 2004, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dashken

No need to worry about batteries...

It's not atomic powered.

You'd still need batteries.

Dashken · 19th Oct 2004, 12:09 AM

Ohh...

But the battery so small.

Max_87 · 19th Oct 2004, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adrian Wong

Oh.. Poor CS5.. No more use for his NiMH batteries!

ROTFL!

16th Oct 2004, 11:04 PM	#2 (permalink)
Adrian Wong Da Boss Join Date: 10 Oct 2002 Location: In front of my ASUS F8V notebook! Posts: 32,299 Reputation: 3574 Rep Power: 75	Wow.. That would be very cool.. Anyone want to buy me one? __________________ Dr. Adrian Wong Tech ARP \| Blog @ Tech ARP \| The Free Trade Zone DYKT : The only offshore account I have is at the sand bank? We need PROGRAMMERS and TECHNICAL WRITERS! Contact us if you are a hot shot programmer or technical writer! My items for sale : 50x SD Card \| Memory Stick PRO \| Cyclone Energy Saver \| Seiko SS watch \| Tiger/Carlsberg beer jugs \| Travel Speakers \| Motorola V600 \| Nokia N90 SOLD! \| New Lowepro Mini Trekker AW Other items for sale @ the FTZ : Zalman CNPS9500 LED @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7700 Cu @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7000 Cu @ $20 \| Swarovski bracelet watches \| Dell 17" LCD \| Hi-Fi speakers \| English DIVX movies \| HP LaserJet toners! \| Office chairs

17th Oct 2004, 09:37 AM	#3 (permalink)
Viper007Bond Super Active Join Date: 12 Oct 2004 Location: Portland, OR, USA Posts: 1,605 Reputation: 152 Rep Power: 8	Awesome! __________________ - Viper007Bond.com Pentium 4C 3.0GHz (I had OC'ed, but the easy OC screwed with my RAM timings) 2GB RAM (4 x 512MB) OCZ PC3200 DDR in dual channel mode (2.5-3-2-6) BFG Tech 256MB GeForce 6800 GT (usually at stock speeds) 74GB Raptor \| 400GB Seagate (thanks ARP!) \| 250GB Maxtor [all SATA] 550W Antec TruePower PSU \| ASUS P4P800-E Deluxe mobo

18th Oct 2004, 08:20 PM	#4 (permalink)
Dashken Administrator! Join Date: 21 Apr 2003 Location: Penang Posts: 30,231 Reputation: 2352 Rep Power: 60	No need to worry about batteries... __________________ \| Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 @ 3.2Ghz \| ASUS P5B-E Plus \| G.SKILL 2x1GB DDR2 800 \| 6 HDDs (2TB+ only ) \| NVIDIA GeForce 7600GT \| Dell E248WFP 24" Widescreen \| \| Intel C2Q Q9450 \| MSI P45 Neo3-FR \| 2 x 2GB OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 Gold Edition \| 1 x Seagate 250GB HDD \| 2 x Seagate 750GB HDD \| 3 x Seagate 1TB HDD \| NVIDIA GeForce 9500GT \| Cooler Master CM690 chassis \| Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 550W PSU \| Dell E248WFP 24" Widescreen \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Blog : Dashken's I-Blog Gallery : Dashken's I-Paintings

19th Oct 2004, 12:09 AM	#7 (permalink)
Dashken Administrator! Join Date: 21 Apr 2003 Location: Penang Posts: 30,231 Reputation: 2352 Rep Power: 60	Ohh... But the battery so small. __________________ \| Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 @ 3.2Ghz \| ASUS P5B-E Plus \| G.SKILL 2x1GB DDR2 800 \| 6 HDDs (2TB+ only ) \| NVIDIA GeForce 7600GT \| Dell E248WFP 24" Widescreen \| \| Intel C2Q Q9450 \| MSI P45 Neo3-FR \| 2 x 2GB OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 Gold Edition \| 1 x Seagate 250GB HDD \| 2 x Seagate 750GB HDD \| 3 x Seagate 1TB HDD \| NVIDIA GeForce 9500GT \| Cooler Master CM690 chassis \| Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 550W PSU \| Dell E248WFP 24" Widescreen \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Blog : Dashken's I-Blog Gallery : Dashken's I-Paintings