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Taking Measure

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Physics

digital clock in orbit around Earth. The clock face reads 11:59:60.

Everyday Time and Atomic Time: Part 5

This is part 5 in a series. Read part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4. The Leap Second Solution When atomic clocks were developed in the 1950s, scientists needed
pair of feet standing on either side of the prime meridian in Greenwich, England

Everyday Time and Atomic Time: Part 4

This is part 4 in a series. Read part 1, part 2 and part 3. Greenwich Mean Time In the previous essay I introduced mean solar time, which averaged the annual
wood pendulum clock hung on a wood paneled wall

Everyday Time and Atomic Time: Part 3

This is part 3 in a series. Read part 1 and part 2. Oscillators and Clocks In the previous essay, I introduced the ideas that frequency and time interval are
pipe organ

Everyday Time and Atomic Time: Part 2

This is part 2 in a series. Read part 1. A short history of frequency Frequency was originally considered to be the province of musicians. The pitches or
NIST physicist Judah Levine with the NIST time scale, a digital clock face reading 14:33:34 and a bank of atomic clocks.

Everyday Time and Atomic Time: Part 1

As a physicist in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Time and Frequency Division, I have worked in the general area of operating atomic
the cryogenic quantum testbed, a sophisticated metallic gold electronic device

Is Your Qubit Better Than My Qubit?

I had been studying superconducting quantum computing for seven years before I was stumped by this seemingly simple question: How do I know if my qubit is
NIST physicist Elizabeth Donley and Compact Atomic Clock

Keeping Time at NIST

Einstein is reported to have once said that time is what a clock measures. Some say that what we experience as time is really our experience of the phenomenon

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About this blog

Taking Measure is the official blog of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

It provides a behind-the-scenes look at NIST’s research and programs, covering a broad range of science and technology areas. Through this blog, NIST’s researchers and staff share why they do what they do and how today’s research will lead to tomorrow’s innovations.

The views presented here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of NIST.

If you have any questions about our blog or reprint requests, please contact us at takingmeasure [at] nist.gov (takingmeasure[at]nist[dot]gov).