Wednesday, 22 May, 2013

New Year’s approaches. A “permanent” calendar could finally answer the annual, “Uh, what day is New Year’s eve this year?” question. This calendar would place each date on a specific day every year, and simplify life for schedulers. But would a permanent calendar be accepted?

The solar clock doesn’t quite line up with the atomic clock. We use leap seconds to make them match. Should we dump the leap second?

How does an atomic clock work? How does an atomic fountain work? Is there a limit to the accuracy of an atomic clock?