Revolutionary Clock Achieves Unprecedented Accuracy, Outshining Giants

WHO:

Fast Company - Physicists at Singapore’s Centre for Quantum Technologies led the development of the new atomic clock.

Fast Company - Murray Barrett is a principal investigator at the Centre for Quantum Technologies and an associate professor of physics at the National University of Singapore.

Fast Company - Kyle Arnold is a joint first author of the research paper published in Nature.

WHAT:

Fast Company - Scientists built an atomic clock that measures time down to the 19th decimal place.

TechRadar - The lutetium-based clock loses only 1 second every 264 billion years.

Fast Company - The new clock delivers a fourfold leap in accuracy over the best American and Chinese atomic clocks.

Fast Company - The researchers conducted a 200-hour test with two independent lutetium clocks to verify their precision.

WHERE:

Fast Company - The clock is located in a laboratory at Singapore’s Centre for Quantum Technologies.

WHEN:

Fast Company - The international organizations governing global measurement are preparing to officially rewrite the definition of the second around 2030.

WHY:

Fast Company - The new clock's unprecedented accuracy could revolutionize various fields, including geology and cosmology, by providing a new measuring tool for observing reality.

HOW:

Fast Company - The clock uses a single, charged atom of lutetium held in a linear Paul trap, which is an oscillating electric cage that prevents the atom from touching any physical surface.

Fast Company - The researchers employed a method called “hyperfine averaging” to cancel out unwanted magnetic and electrical disturbances affecting the atom's timing.

Fast Company - The clock operates by counting the natural vibrations of light waves, utilizing visible laser light instead of microwaves for greater precision.

(UPDATED October 8, 2026 11:02 UTC)

Scientists at Singapore’s Centre for Quantum Technologies have developed a groundbreaking atomic clock that measures time down to the 19th decimal place and loses only one second every 264 billion years. This new lutetium-based clock offers a fourfold increase in accuracy compared to the best atomic clocks in the U.S. and China, and its unprecedented precision could transform fields like geology and cosmology by providing a new tool for observing reality. The international organizations responsible for global measurement are set to officially redefine the second around 2030, thanks in part to this innovative clock that uses a single charged atom of lutetium and a method called “hyperfine averaging” to enhance its timing accuracy.