# New Atomic Clock

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-atomic-clock/5748>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 3, 2000, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-atomic-clock/5748 "2000-01-03T19:58:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![WIGGUM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WIGGUM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WIGGUM)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2000, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-atomic-clock/5748/1 "2000-01-04T06:09:00Z")

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I just read that they just put a new atomic clock into operation. The clock only loses one second every 20 million years. This replaces another atomic clock that loses one second every 3 million years. ::gasp:: How inaccurate!

My question is, why waste the thousands upon thousands (and I may be underestimating the cost) of dollars on such a mechanism? I find that my Timex does just fine for my purposes. Do we really need a clock that accurate?

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**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2000, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-atomic-clock/5748/2 "2000-01-03T19:58:00Z")

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I caught a lecture by William Phillips a few weeks ago (he got a Nobel Prize for his work on atomic clocks in '97) and this question was asked. Phillips mentioned practical applications like a more accurate GPS system, which I’m sure the military would appreciate. He also thought the main benefit would be greater precision in physics experiments. Sort of a guns vs butter argument. Money is spent on atomic clocks for the same reason money is spent on other types of research. How much has NASA spent on space exploration? I guess it depends on your definition of what a waste of money is.

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**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2000, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-atomic-clock/5748/3 "2000-01-03T21:31:00Z")

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Why would anyone shoot a hole in a perfectly acceptable stick of butter???

Cartooniverse  
" If you want to kiss the sky, you’d better learn how to kneel "