Physics World is delighted to announce its Top 10 Breakthroughs of the Year for 2025, which includes research in astronomy, antimatter, atomic and molecular physics and more. The Top Ten is the ...

The time is nigh for nuclear clocks. In a first, scientists have used a tabletop laser to bump an atomic nucleus into a higher energy state. It’s a feat that sets scientists on a path toward creating ...

The 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society’s Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics begins May 30. Scientists from around the world will present new findings on atoms, simple ...

Gaby and Alex’s team developed a chip-scale atomic clock (CSAC) that is a little larger than a peanut. Rubidium atoms in the atomic beam provide the microwave quantum transition that is used by the ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about physics, science, academia, and pop culture. I'm giving the final exam in my intro course today, then going directly ...

Atomic clocks are the most accurate timekeepers we have, losing only seconds across billions of years. But apparently that’s not accurate enough – nuclear clocks could steal their thunder, speeding up ...

Physicists have made one of the highest performance atomic clocks ever. ­­ Their instrument, known as an optical lattice atomic clock, can measure differences in time to a precision equivalent to ...

Light exerts a certain amount of pressure onto a body: sun sails could thus power space probes in the future. However, when light particles (photons) hit an individual molecule and knock out an ...

With the launch of a powerful laser facility, Britain's most secretive lab is opening up to academics. Geoff Brumfiel secures a preview. You have full access to this article via your institution.

Physicists have measured and compared the "ticking" rate between three of the most precise clocks in the world to such unprecedented accuracy that it may lay the groundwork to answer some of the ...