An atom clock which China's Ministry of Science and Technology claims will lose just one second every six million years has been developed. China is the fourth country to produce such a timepiece.
Chinese researchers used advanced laser technology to "capture" cesium atoms and cool them down. At the low temperature the speed of these atoms dropped from 300-400 meters per second to just three centimeters per second which increases the timing accuracy.
The high-precision clock has many potential applications in areas like national defense and scientific research. Even just a minute time change can affect aeronautics, telecommunications and global positioning systems which are now relied upon by people all over the world, according to the ministry.
The United States, Russia and Japan are the other three countries to have developed this type of high-accuracy atom clock.
(Xinhua News Agency December 1, 2006)
