WHO'S GOT THE TIME?
by Paul and Kerri Elders
Today's computers are equipped with an internal clock that keeps track of time based on the 60 mHz wavelength of America's electrical supply (wavelength is different in Europe). If you are a Windows user, you have a handy little clock in the lower right-hand corner of your taskbar that constantly keeps you apprised of the time.
If you double-click on the clock in the lower right-hand corner of your taskbar, a calendar will appear.
But how can you be sure that your clock is really giving you the right time? By synchronizing it with one of the "time servers" available on the internet. These time servers are computer systems that are in sync with the numerous "atomic clocks" available worldwide, like the one at the Naval Observatory in Washington, DC or the one located in Boulder, Colorado.
These are the most accurate clocks ever developed. Using the resonating frequency of cesium as its "brain," an atomic clock more accurately measures time than even the rotation of the earth or the movement of the stars. Atomic clocks are NOT radioactive--they don't depend on the decay of cesium to measure time. They actually work much like a standard clock, and even depend on an oscillating mass (the nucleus and its electrons) and a spring (the electrostatic positive charge between the nucleus and the "electronic cloud" that surrounds it) to measure the passage of time. Some atomic clocks use hydrogen atoms for their timing mechanism, and others use rubidium; but cesium is the heart of today's most accurate atomic clocks.
Regardless of the complex physics involved in their inner workings, the atomic clock is SO accurate that the US Defense Department depends upon it entirely for its time. How accurate is an atomic clock? The cesium clock at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado, will not gain nor lose a second in the next 20 million years. Pretty accurate. And you can tap into this resource online. Just click on one of the links below to visit one of America's time servers. Get the correct time and set your own computer's clock with confidence!
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Paul & Kerri Elders are freelance writers who live in Ranchvale, New Mexico.
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