#Atomic clocks

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Measuring Time: Atomic Clocks

The most accurate clocks that exist today are atomic clocks, measuring the flow of time based on the resonant frequency of atoms and molecules. This is possible because electrons associated with atoms exist at distinct energy levels, and the transitions between these energy levels can be determined, leading to a consistent resonance when probed. While there are several types of atomic clocks, with different setups and configurations, they all rely on a single substance.

Cesium clocks are the most common, and it is the resonant frequency of cesium (also written caesium) that is used for the current definition of a second. Some atomic clocks also use rubidium, or hydrogen. Less common and more recent is strontium, as well as aluminum, yttrium, and mercury. Historically, ammonia was actually used in the first atomic clock in 1949 before the first cesium clock was built in 1955.

Sources/Further Reading: (Image source - Wikipedia) (Time and Date) (Popular Mechanics) (NASA) (NIST)

[vr-vichara]

“Time is an illusion”, said Albert Einstein. But we humans have been obsessed with time.

Starting from noting our time of birth, organizing every event in life to a specific time, constantly asking what is the time, to the ever-present lament of not having enough time!

Explore this history of how humans created the early time keeping devices and how this defined the way we understand time today and also how it structured our lives itself. Ever wondered how time zones and railways are related?

From sun-dials, water clocks, hour glasses to the new quartz clocks. And in our quest to be more and more precise with our time, we transitioned from observing the movement of the sun to observing the moment of the atoms and electrons now, with the atomic clocks.

And what better way to represent this topic than the art work "Allegory of Good Government" by Ambrogio Lorenzetti

[eigenraptor]

very very dramatic depiction of what it's like to loop back in ISAT

(source for time dilation)

[hiimbloblos]

Clocks and cogs

~1600 words || heavy use of cybertronian language for body parts, time and length || Just some Rung and Whirl bonding over how ancient Rung is :) || cross-posted to AO3

Heyy you know when you scroll your Tumblr and you find something so perfect as a fic prompt that you decide to make it into a fic? Well there's this post by @powerlineangel that fits into that category!

- ...If, given a choice, you could return to you wrecker days, would you?

- Would I? Would I?! You're seriously asking me that? - Whirl lifted himself up from the berth. He turned his helm so his optic would stare right at Rung, as if trying to intimidate him.

The therapist didn't even flinch, still waiting for an answer. Whirl kept his gaze on the orange mech, but instead of trying to come up with an answer, he got distracted by... something. He couldn't figure out what it was, but being in Rung's office today made him... uneasy. Something was wrong.

- Of course I would. - Whirl finally turned away his gaze, but was still almost painfully aware that something was bothering him. - Those were my coolest days!

Did the lightning in this office change?

-Wreckin', rulin', killing bots who deserved it.

Did Rung move everything in his office by a microhic just to mess with him? That doesn't sound like a Rung thing to do.

- Things were simpler during the war, y'know. No time to think about rights and wrongs.

Whirl was starting to get agitated. He wanted to get to the bottom of this, but he couldn't figure out what he's supposed to be looking for in the first place!

Rung stopped his train of thought with some clever remark and Whirl's voicebox made a grumpy noise. He wasn't listening to him right now, he wanted to figure out what--

And then it clicked. Quite literally: something made a familiar clinking sound and made Whirl look at the source of the noise. The source of the noise was somethere where Rung was sitting, so Whirl looked at the orange mech with confusion. And then it clicked for the second time, but this time metaphorically - it was Whirl's processor figuring out the source of his irritation. He didn't listen to Rung this entire time, but should've - because the feeling of uneasiness was coming from the therapist himself.

- You're annoying me. Right now. - Whirl said bluntly, again staring into Rung's face.

- I'd say I'm surprised, but I cannot bring myself to lie to you. - Rung started writing something on his datapad.

- Not in a usual way. - Whirl shook his head, - I mean, that too, that's always a thing. - Rung got intruiged and stopped writing. - I don't like the sounds coming from you.

- ...What do you mean by that?

- You're ancient, right? You gotta be full of cogs and levers.

- I wouldn't say it's as primitive as that...

- I've noticed it awhile ago. You sound very similar to my clocks. But right now the sounds are... off.

- I'm sure whatever is wrong with my inner workings can be fixed with a visit to the medibay. Besides-- - Rung tried to say something else, but got interrupted by a claw to his intake.

- Shh!

The office got silent. Whirl listened very intently, even got his audials closer to the mech in front of him. Even Rung directed his audio sensors inwards to figure out what bothered Whirl. And then his optics made it look like he winced at what he had heard.

- Alright eyebrows, sit here. Now I'm your therapist. - Whirl jumped off the berth, clanked his claws eagerly and gestured Rung to sit down, who hesitantly placed the datapad away, to his computer, and stood up. - Actually, no, wait. I need my stuff. I'll be right back.

 - Or-- Whirl, - Rung stopped his patient midway through the door. - I could go with you. So you won't have to take the entirety of your workshop here.

If Whirl still had a face, he would probably smirk at how-- eager? Rung was. But he nodded instead, his voicebox making an amused sound.

- Sure.

- Get comfortable. - Whirl gestured over to the chair near the table.

Rung complied and sat down, curiously looking at blue mech's machinations. Claws quickly ghosted over the table, collecting the tray, lubricant vials and little boxes of spare cogs. Whirl put everything on a tray and turned around to his patient.

- I need you to open up. If you're not scared of me poking around in your chassis, that is.

Rung took off his glasses, placed them on the table, and laid his arms on the armrests. A low hiss broke the silence of the room as Rung's chassis opened up, revealing many mechanisms around the spark chamber.

Without much hesitation the tip of blue mech's claw transformed to reveal a tiny screwdriver and he dove right to the source. Stiff clicks and thuds filled Rung's audials. This felt... odd. Oddly comforting. Sure, Whirl is the ship's nutjob, he had a certain reputation and he had a certain history, but right now, him working so meticulously, so delicately inside Rung's chassis... The orange mech almost felt safe.

- When was the last time you changed your oil?

- Sometime in the last quartex. Why?

Whirl shook his head, took a step back and transformed his claw back into its full form.

- Wrong oil. Too viscous for a mechanism like yours. - Whirl put on an attachment on his claw (this one looked almost like a needle), took out a vial and dipped the needle inside, taking some lubricant onto it. He turned back to Rung and lowered himself back to work.

- W-well, - Rung got interrupted by claws snapping inside his chest cavity and hissed. Whirl raised his optic at him, but Rung waved him away. - That's the oil I've been using... for a long while. I think some medic recommended it to me a couple megacycles ago, assuring me that it's the best there is.

- Yes, it is one of the best oils you can get, no doubt about it. - Whirl's voicebox made another grumpy sound and he straightened up in front of the orange mech, towering over him. - But it's not the best for your type of mechanism.

- Why is that?

- Because, - Whirl pointed at the open chassis in front of him, - if you use the wrong oil, you have to change it way too frequently. How often do you change it, anyway?

- Every kilocycle.

- See? With the right oil you'd have to do this every 4 or 5 kilocycles. You're wasting time and money! - Rung chuckled at that, but was stopped by Whirl abruptly pinning him down. - Hey! Stop moving! Unless you want your cogs spilled everywhere.

Rung reluctantly relaxed and let the claws continue their work.

- How did you start working with clocks?

- Are you kidding? You know that already, I told that story back when Fort Max wrecked your room and when you were playing a decoration at Swerve's bar.

- Yes, yes you did. But that's not what I meant. Why clocks?

- “Why”, “why-why-why”. Why not clocks? I can build them, I can fix them, I can improve them. I used to get lots of money off that, too. Even now I think I'm better at it than I used to be.

- How so?

- Well, functionalists thought that taking away my servos would make me worse at my hobby. Turns out that when you have claws instead of digits - installing upgrades becomes less problematic and tinkering with clocks becomes easier. Who would've thought? Not the functionalists, that's for sure.

Rung's dermas flattened into a thin smile. It was nice to see Whirl being so enthusiastic about anything but killing. Rung almost made a comment about it, but something inside his chest cavity snapped again, this time followed by a dry “Uh-oh”. Whirl took out a piece of a broken cog out of the cavity and showed it to the cog's owner.

- Sor... Hm. I'm so-- - Whirl's voicebox crackled and he stopped himself to think. - I'll replace it. - he finally managed to say, turning to his table.

- You could return to watchmaking, Whirl. When we're done with our sessions. - Rung looked at the blue mech's yellow optic, looking for a reaction. Which he kind of did get - for a bot who doesn't internalize his thoughts, Whirl was uncharacteristically quiet, continuing to work on fixing his mistake. - I'll.. Leave you with that thought. For now.

- Done. You can close up now.

Rung closed his chassis and once more directed his audio sensors inwards. He knew his somatic soundtrack better than most and right now the muffled sounds of his parts were the same as usual, maybe even a tad bit more melodic than he's used to.

- Incredible. - this is all Rung could muster. Word-wise. His face, though, was beaming with a genuine smile. - What did you do?

- Err... just changed some oil, wound up some springs and brushed off some deep-rooted grime. Nothin' too fancy. - Whirl dropped his claw attachments into a jar of degreaser and put it aside.

- I feel much better now. Thank you. - Rung took his glasses from the table and put them on. - Now, Whirl, I want to ask you one last question for today.

Whirl stopped what he was doing and turned his head to look at the orange mech. Then the room shook with his thunderous laughter.

- Oh, so you did this to trick me into therapy again! Sure, go ahead while I'm in a good mood.

- If, given a choice, you could return to you wrecker days, would you?

- You already asked me that question today. - Whirl tilted his helm in confusion.

- I did! - Rung put his servos together. - But I would like to know if you've changed your mind. So?

- I think I would, yeah. Those were my coolest days, remember? - Whirl turned his gaze back to cleaning up his desk.

- Right. Of course.

[blackvahana]

I sat and plucked the strings, I called him in. All his waves, all the tides to the shore. A call so strong, a siren so big, that even the ocean itself is pulled.

Eyes are great spheres with central dots, gelatinous, liquid, strange substances both there and not. Fish eggs, babies seen in the light when held to eclipse the sun. That's what I watched, that's what I called; it wasn't just the sparkling core but the peripheral hagfish expulsions - and those expulsions' expulsions. All the world brought to me, all the limbs held with puppet strings.

I called, he was brought to answering. Fate, mind, thoughts, personality, the repetitive learned states, the state-learning, ideas, future possibilities, the gentleness of flesh, the sharpness of consciousness-bone. Echoes, but simultaneous. Thunder at the same time as lightning, brought together not because one must follow the other but because both were brought together.

I still fail to understand, but at least I understand that that lack of understanding is a willed ignorance born from... understandable things.

There, you said, was the place you last were, just below the surface. When I wake it will be there. This is a Creator's act, a Creator's mind, a Creator's reverence for the Created. Understanding of the Trinity, embodying it. The siren call emanates from the deepest, most fertile underwater volcanoes, the point at which my face presses against the surface.

There was a reason we went up there in the first place. The revelation and self-destruction was wanted all along. Apotheosis, they call it; even those who have reached it need to play this game through again and again and reach it again and again. This is... Old God re-apotheosis, the eyes opening to another truth, more eyes across your scales, more revelatory bliss, and I am that. Nothing is lost when all is lost. All is gained when all is lost. Nothing is lost, all is had. All is had and all is gained.

[bleachbleachbleach]

Having one of those weeks where I read an essay about swimming at a YMCA in New Jersey and my brain is like "which is RELATED TO BLEACH BECAUSE--" and then another about beekeeping "WHICH IS EVEN MORE RELATED TO BLEACH BECAUSE--"

[danthepest]

More villains from in the DC Animated Universe. In order:

Ra’s al Ghul - First appearance in Batman v1 #232 (1971).

Talia al Ghul - First appearance in Detective Comics v1 #411 (1971).

Ubu - First appearance in Batman v1 #232 (1971).

The Clock King - First appearance in World’s Finest v1 #111 (1960).

The Shadow Thief - First appearance in The Brave & the Bold v1 #36 (1961).

The Monocle - First appearance in Flash Comics #64 (1946).

The Gentleman Ghost - First appearance in Flash Comics #88 (1947).

Copperhead - First appearance in The Brave & the Bold v1 #78 (1968).

The Floronic Man - First appearance in The Atom v1 #1 (1962).

The Puzzler - First appearance in Superman v2 #187 (2002).

[itheume]

i walk out of paint tool sai shaking and rattling and gripping my tablet pen before walking Right back in there

[qqweebird]

i love my major i love geology/geologineering and paleontology but i hate how… loosey goosey this field is about precision… like obviously they are good diligent scientists but most applications of this study are so large scale that like, decimal points either arent going to make a difference or you literally *cant* in good conscience claim a result to that precision. and when i was mapping in wyoming last summer so much of my job was “just write down what you think is true to your best logical conclusion and if someone disagrees they can go climb the mountain themselves”

[vellichorom]

So I’m going to ask more questions, should probably make this a daily thing but I can’t write questions forever.

Anyways! When Thierry does sleep or eat or do human functions, does he necessarily enjoy it or does he prefer not to? Curious again.

-⏰

you are truly a blessing clock anon, SERIOUSLY thank you for being interested & giving me a little something to think about anytime you pop up; it's more appreciated & valued than i can say with words, ❤️

ANOTHER GOOD QUESTION! i think he enjoys things like eating & sleeping well enough for someone who doesn't HAVE to do them to survive, you know? as long as he's not thinking too deeply about stuff like chewing food or all the things that could happen while he's sleeping, he's fine; actually likes the experience of tasting food / drink & getting to " turn off " for awhile somewhere he's comfortable, -- albeit he had some trouble with the latter initially, afraid of what might happen to him or the Office if he let his guard down & let himself go into a black unconsciousness for HOURS at one time. ( spoilers; he ended up snuggled by his wife, nothing else happened; enlightenment achieved )

beyond those specifically, any OTHER human function that could apply to him ( which can all be performed / coded into his system, dependent on will & want ), he's probably about as thrilled as anyone else WOULD be doing them? i suppose ??? excreting? not thrilled. feels gross but sometimes it happens. breathing? fun, better if he's breathing good smells. maintaining hygiene? arguably even necessary, but seen as a chore nonetheless. having organs? VERY comfortable. but it's a little unsettling when they start working, dying? like riding a roller coaster; terrifying but REALLY FUN murder? -- whoops these aren't human functions per se,

BUT you get the idea! most of the bodily functionality implied with a " human " body is more or less optional to him & never really necessary, but he has fun with it SOMEtimes.

for a very rough rundown on extra anatomical details, check HERE! a maniacal study i did while trying to figure what else i could say here that lead me down a rabbit hole of figuring this man out; full biology reference release coming...... someday maybe!

[tgvonhoch]

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

𝔇𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔨 ℜ𝔦𝔤𝔤𝔰

[chernobog13]

Gary Frank’s depiction of the first meeting of the Justice Society of America, from Doomsday Clock (2017).

My question is: how come everybody gets comfy chairs except for Flash and Doctor Fate (it’s obvious why Hawkman doesn’t get one)?

[uranium]

started watching an episode of nova on yt and when the title theme hit i was hit with so much nostalgia i just started crying out of nowhere. it sounds like being a kid and watching that show with my dad on the couch while he gets up every so often to help my mom with making dinner.....being sassy and asking him why he didnt like to put on "fun" tv but i always ended up unable to stop watching.....

[theeleventhsignofthezodiac]

Leah Millis - Doomsday Clock, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, National Press Club, Washington, DC, January 24, 2023 (90 seconds to midnight)