Key Points
Whereas the best quartz timepieces will lose a millisecond every six weeks, an atomic clock might not lose a thousandth of one in a decade..
Ekkehard Peik, one of the fields pioneers, says such a clock could be a factor of 1,000 times better than todays standard atomic clocks..
In atomic clocks, the electrons around an atoms nucleus are jolted into a higher energy state by incoming radiation of a specific frequency..
Nuclear clocks would follow the same principles, but use the transitions of neutrons and protons inside the nucleus..
They are more excited about having two independent ways of measuring time: atomic clocks, which depend solely on the electromagnetic force governing the electrons movement; and nuclear clocks, which also obey the strong nuclear force..
