Atomic Clocks
Atomic clocks are very precise and have nearly no clock drift. The rotation of the Earth itself actually is less precise than modern atomic clocks used as time standards. Thus to keep the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) in line with the Earth's rotation, a leap second is added to some years.
Read more about this topic: Clock Drift
Famous quotes containing the words atomic and/or clocks:
“It is now time to stop and to ask ourselves the question which my last commanding officer, Admiral Hyman Rickover, asked me and every other young naval officer who serves or has served in an atomic submarine. For our Nation M for all of us M that question is, “Why not the best?””
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“It was a bright, cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)