thorium-229

Thorium-229 is a radioactive isotope used in nuclear clocks, which are ultra-precise timekeeping devices that measure time by the oscillations of atomic nuclei.

Why it’s in the news: It is in the news because a Chinese team has developed a thorium-229 nuclear clock that is more stable than one built by researchers in Vienna.

Latest on thorium-229

• China’s thorium-229 nuclear clock beats Vienna’s on stability, studies show
• China's thorium-229 nuclear clock beats Vienna's on stability, studies show
• both the Chinese team, led by Tsinghua University in Beijing, and the researchers at Vienna's TU Wien used thorium-229 nuclei embedded in crystals to keep time

Connections

3 entities linked to thorium-229 across the news graph.