Taking Measure Blog: Time and frequency

Time and frequency

Historical photo shows three men standing next to a refrigerator-sized piece of machinery with an analog clock attached to the top.

How Atomic Clocks Have Changed Our World

November 4, 2024

We spend our days immersed in time. But where does time come from? How do we track it? This has evolved along with technology in recent years.

A spiral-bound calendar page is blurred at the edges.

Leap Day Is Here: It Doesn’t Have to Be Your Standard Weekday

February 28, 2024

We get an extra day this year, but why do we need a leap day every four years on Feb. 29? It all comes down to standards.

An antique clock showing a few minutes before 12 is topped with a party hat, and colorful streamers hang in the background.

Auld Lang ‘Time’: One of the Country’s Timekeepers Makes Sure We Ring in The New Year at Just the Right Second

December 28, 2023

As you prepare to watch the ball drop or pop champagne on New Year’s Eve, we’ll be keeping an eye on the clock — just as we always do.

A researcher wearing safety glasses reaches into a box of circuitry and other equipment, which emits a green glow.

Think You Know What a Second Is? It Will Likely Change in the Next Decade.

November 8, 2023

As the world has modernized and our pace of life has increased, our relationship to time has changed.

Foiled! NIST Unwraps What’s Baking Under Aluminum in Its Labs

April 5, 2023

Here at NIST, we do a different kind of baking, but we often use the same foil you use in your own kitchen.

Making Measurements With a Fine-Toothed Comb

September 22, 2021

To many people, a measurement sounds mundane, like marking ticks on a ruler or reading the line on a thermometer. It’s a piece of data. And they tend to think

Everyday Time and Atomic Time: Part 5

April 28, 2021

This is part 5 in a series. Read part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4. The Leap Second Solution When atomic clocks were developed in the 1950s, scientists needed

Everyday Time and Atomic Time: Part 4

April 21, 2021

This is part 4 in a series. Read part 1 , part 2 and part 3 . Greenwich Mean Time In the previous essay I introduced mean solar time, which averaged the annual

Everyday Time and Atomic Time: Part 3

April 14, 2021

This is part 3 in a series. Read part 1 and part 2 . Oscillators and Clocks In the previous essay, I introduced the ideas that frequency and time interval are

Everyday Time and Atomic Time: Part 2

April 7, 2021

This is part 2 in a series. Read part 1. A short history of frequency Frequency was originally considered to be the province of musicians. The pitches or

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