Word: rubidium
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...quantum level. “Essentially, I measure how two atoms fall simultaneously, much like Galileo measured how two balls fell in synchronization from atop the Tower of Pisa,” Kovachy said. If there is some atomic interference—that is, if two atoms of rubidium do not fall simultaneously—then scientists will have to rethink how gravitational forces act on particles generally. Thompson will also be pursuing research in physics. —PAUL C. MATHIS
...could truly appreciate the global slowdown until the invention of the atomic clock, which uses the oscillation frequencies of atoms such as cesium, hydrogen or rubidium to mark the passage of time. According to Andrew Novick, an engineer with the time and frequency division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), there exist three types of atomic clocks: primary standard clocks, which are state-of-the-art instruments owned by only a handful of nations, such as Germany, Britain and the U.S. (there's one at NIST); smaller, rack-mounted commercially available versions that can cost as much...
...needn't worry about resynchronizing the clocks on your electronic devices; they'll adjust themselves. Cell phones, for instance, will receive a signal from a cell-phone base station, many of which often rely on commercially available rubidium atomic clocks. But if you would like to witness the leap second pass with your own eyes, log on to NIST's Web clock shortly before midnight Greenwich Mean Time, and watch as 23:59:59 changes to 23:59:60, a feat that only NIST's clock can achieve...
Working in the Lyman laboratory, the researchers used a technique known as electro-magnetically induced transparency, in which they fired a red laser light pulse into a sealed glass cylinder containing rubidium vapor. They fired two control beams through the vapor, rather than the one beam used in previous experiments, so that their interaction simulated the effect of tiny atomic mirrors...
...experiment on the other hand ‘traps’ actual signal photons inside the rubidium vapor in such a way that the signal pulse overall does not travel,” he said...