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

Atomic clocks leveraged the atom to keep time, but new innovations will use the nucleus itself.

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 ...

World's first thorium-229 nuclear clock shows potential for ultra-precise timekeeping and fundamental physics tests.

Most clocks, from wristwatches to the systems that run GPS and the internet, work by tracking regular, repeating motions. To build a clock, you need something that ticks in a perfectly repeatable way.

(koto_feja/Getty Images) A breakthrough in chronometry decades in the making could redefine the limits of how we keep time. Using atoms of thorium-229, physicists have built functional clocks based ...

A clock built from thorium-229 has crossed an important line, from a long-discussed concept to a working device. The shift matters because this clock does more than keep time. It can also watch for ...