Jeff Mock posted the URL of an article on the history of quartz oscillators in wristwatches which I found quite fascinating.
Here is its Tiny-URL: http://tinyurl.com/35nsct Following the recent announcement of super-tiny atomic clocks no larger than "a grain of rice" I am anxiously anticipating the introduction of wristwatches capable of +/- a few seconds per century. See the NIST announcement here: ------ From: http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/miniclock.htm The heart of a minuscule atomic clock —believed to be 100 times smaller than any other atomic clock— has been demonstrated by scientists at the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), opening the door to atomically precise timekeeping in portable, battery-powered devices for secure wireless communications, more precise navigation and other applications. Described in the Aug. 30, 2004, issue of Applied Physics Letters, the clock’s inner workings are about the size of a grain of rice (1.5 millimeters on a side and 4 millimeters high), consume less than 75 thousandths of a watt (enabling the clock to be operated on batteries) and are stable to one part in 10 billion, equivalent to gaining or losing just one second every 300 years. In addition, this “physics package” could be fabricated and assembled on semiconductor wafers using existing techniques for making micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), offering the potential for low-cost mass production of an atomic clock about the size of a computer chip and permitting easy integration with other electronics. Eventually, the physics package will be integrated with an external oscillator and control circuitry into a finished clock about 1 cubic centimeter in size. ------ Mike Baker ------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.