From: bill.sloman@ieee.org   
      
   On 10/01/2026 3:41 pm, Jan Panteltje wrote:   
   > An old jeweler’s trick could change nuclear timekeeping   
   > A centuries-old metal-plating trick may unlock ultra-precise nuclear clocks   
   that work without GPS and could redefine how we measure time.   
   > Date:   
   >   January 8, 2026   
   > Source:   
   >   University of California - Los Angeles   
   > Summary:   
   >   A team of physicists has discovered a surprisingly simple way to build   
   nuclear clocks using tiny amounts of rare thorium.   
   >   By electroplating thorium onto steel, they achieved the same results as   
   years of work with delicate crystals — but far more efficiently.   
   >   These clocks could be vastly more precise than current atomic clocks and   
   work where GPS fails, from deep space to underwater submarines.   
   >   The advance could transform navigation, communications, and fundamental   
   physics research.   
   >   
   > Link:   
   >   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260107225542.htm   
      
   Interesting news, but a terrible write up.   
      
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_clock   
      
   is much better, if much longer. The critical point - that the summary   
   entirely misses - is that thorium-229 has a very low lying nuclear   
   resonance at a frequency that is low enough for laser excitation.   
      
   Standard atomic clocks rely on exciting electronic transitions in the   
   electrons orbiting the nucleus and the resonance is much broader than   
   that of the oscillation in the shape of the nucleus.   
      
   --   
   Bill Sloman, Sydney   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)