Scientists have developed a nuclear clock that may surpass atomic clocks in precision.

"Scientists build a nuclear clock that could make atomic clocks obsolete" — Science Daily (all) · Science & Medicine

11 Oct 2026

What it means

A uses the energy transition of 's atomic nucleus rather than the electron-shell oscillations of today's . According to the report, teams in Vienna and Beijing have now built the first working versions — including a '' one in Vienna — and because nuclear transitions are far less sensitive to outside interference, these clocks could eventually keep time more precisely than any atomic clock, though 'obsolete' is a stretch: cesium atomic clocks still define the SI second.

Accuracy & sourcesSourced

The claim is attested by a reputable secondary source relaying a named primary source; per the search results, the underlying dispatches are Reuters reports of the Vienna and Beijing teams' work. That puts the reporting close to the original, though the headline's 'make atomic clocks obsolete' is an extrapolation — the solid core is that working nuclear-clock prototypes now exist, not that the international time standard has been replaced.

Scientists have developed a nuclear clock that may surpass atomic clocks in precision.

What it means

Accuracy & sourcesSourced

How new