South China Morning Post reported on Jan. 7 that China has developed a “portable” atomic clock, roughly the size of a single-door refrigerator, which can be loaded onto a truck for long-distance transport along bumpy roads and other harsh environments. In spite of the travel, the certainty of its timekeeping can be kept to less than one-fifth to a quadrillionth of a second.
Hong Kong’s SCMP writes: “A high-precision timekeeping system is the backbone of modern warfare, enabling radars separated by thousands of miles to operate in unison, as they detect and track elusive stealth fighters. It also improves the quality of signals in electronic warfare and facilitates the transmission of vast amounts of data.”
