US scientists said Thursday they have built the world's most precise clock, whose ticking rate varies less than two parts in one quintillion, or 10 times better than any other.
The clock, made from the element ytterbium, could be used for technological advancements beyond timekeeping, such as navigation systems, magnetic fields and temperature.
While mechanical clocks use the movement of a pendulum to keep time, atomic clocks use an electromagnetic signal of light emitted at an exact frequency to move electrons in cesium atoms.