Tl;Dr They are trying to make a better atomic clock that could provide a more precise definition of a second then we currently have.
Is this like when they made the kilogram some function of the speed of light instead of the weight of a metal ball in a French museum?
Not exactly. The kilogram was redefined in a fundamentally different way, moving from an artifact, which will change with time, to a fundamental property of nature, that as far as anyone knows, will be the same at all times. The second was already defined in such a way. Any such definition still requires some sort of measurement though to get something usable. Different ways of measuring the same type of definition can be more precise, and in this redefinition they think they’ve found a more precise method that works in the same fundamental manner. Both measure the oscillation rate of atoms, but the proposed element is thought to give better precision.
The most relevant paragraph:
Now, using a new way of linking the clocks with ultra-fast lasers, researchers have shown that different kinds of optical atomic clocks can be placed a few kilometres apart and still agree within 1 part in 10¹⁸. This is just as good as previous measurements with pairs of identical clocks a few hundred metres apart, but about a hundred times more precise than achieved before with different clocks or large distances.
Can’t wait for decimal time with 100,000 seconds/day /s
I actually quite like this idea. Or we could start using number base 12 instead of 10 everywhere else.
This would outdate centuries of equipment and scientific publications in the metric system.
A better idea is the International Fixed Calendar:
It’ll likely happen once we move to living mostly in space (if we survive that long ofc)
With a full switch to metric, hopefully. We’ve lost a Mars probe to unit confusion already.
Wont that fuck up the other measures that use the second as a basis?
Would this affect our lives on Earth?
Most likely indirectly, like how GPS has to account for satellites not matching the passage of time on earth due to relatively.
