While the global scientific community is considering the idea of revising the exact length of the second, the Quantum Technologies Center in Singapore has unveiled yet another contender for the title of the planet’s chief timekeeper. Tests of the latest lutetium atomic clock have shown that its oscillation rate not only meets existing standards but […] Post It doesn’t get any more accurate than this: A new atomic clock is aiming for a world record at Root-Nation.com.

Singapore's Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) has announced a breakthrough in atomic clock technology with the development of a lutetium-ion atomic clock that achieves unprecedented accuracy. According to research published in Nature on September 23, 2026, the clock would be off by no more than one second over 300 billion years, representing the highest accuracy reported for an optical atomic clock to date. The CQT team measured the frequency of their lutetium clock to 19 decimal places, reporting an uncertainty of 1 x 10^-19, the lowest for any optical atomic clock. They also built two identical clocks and compared their ticking over 200 hours, finding they agreed to an uncertainty of 5.7 x 10^-19, the most precise clock comparison ever recorded. The lutetium clock's exceptional stability comes from its minimal sensitivity to temperature and magnetic fields, allowing it to maintain accuracy across extreme environmental conditions from Death Valley to the Antarctic plateau. This stability could support studies of gravity and fundamental physics, while contributing data toward a possible redefinition of the second after 2030. The team, led by Associate Professor Murray Barrett, has worked with lutetium for over a decade, making them the only group currently using this element for timekeeping. The researchers plan to miniaturize the lab-scale clock into a transportable system, which could enable broader applications in fields such as geodesy and gravitational monitoring. The development represents a significant advancement in timekeeping technology, potentially paving the way for new standards in measuring time and fundamental physical constants.

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