In a vacuum, you could get GPS accuracy down to 700 nanometers with clocks that accurate [1]. If only that pesky atmosphere didn't get in the way!<p>[1]: <a href="http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%281+second+%2F430+trillion%29+*+speed+of+light" rel="nofollow">http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%281+second+%2F430+tril...</a>
At this level of accuracy things are pretty strange. It used to bug me when you had to tune RF circuits at a distance with non-conductive tools because your body capacitance would throw the tuning off. Having a clock that just being near it will change what time it reads, well that is a whole different ballgame of weird is it not?<p>On a science note, why isn't this a gravity wave detector anyway?
The coolest part it that it improves both stability and accuracy. Cesium is often touted as a good clock but it only has good accuracy. The short-term stability has more noise than something like a Rubidium clock that is very stable on the short-term but inaccurate(relative to cesium anyway) on the long term.<p>This is cool because it is the best in both dimensions.
One thing I'm really curious about: How can you measure the accuracy of the world's most accurate clock?<p>By definition there would be no more accurate timing device to benchmark it against so is the accuracy cited in the article only theoretical?
<random internet commentator tripe>This could be the basis of a future tricorder or Star Trek-like sensor array. Three ultra-sensitive clocks in an array should be able to infer mass and motion both for the unit and objects in the local area indirectly. Relativistic effects are minuscule, but not non-existent. Extremely-tuned clocks would have some pretty cool capabilities.</random internet commentator tripe>
Ask: Such synchronous clocks possible?<p>Special and general relativity steam-roll over synched digit accuracy, at introducing any object's mass, any object's displacement.<p>Not gain or lose over five billion years?<p>How many digits this time?<p>Tides, quakes, rain on the roof, defeat the possibility of unbounded synched accuracy.
Does it beat the pulsar clock [1]? And will standing next to clock make it go wrong because of the change of the gravitational field?<p>[1] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulsar_clock" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulsar_clock</a>
Meanwhile on servers running Windows, keeping sync to within a few seconds is a mighty challenge, esp. with Hyper-V. (Linux guests have no issue with ms or sub-ms accuracy.)<p>Microsoft's Win32 time is only meant to prevent Kerberos error, so under 5 minutes is "fine".