We actually monitor them every nanosecond of every day, not just on New Year’s Eve. We have the duty to uphold the official U.S. time. There are many ways we get this time to the public, which we call “distributing” the correct time. We send out the time via satellite, radio signals, telephone lines, through internet protocols, and our web clock at time.gov.
It’s hard to grasp, but a nanosecond is one billionth of a second. Think about the speed of light—it travels about 1 foot in a nanosecond!
There are also many important users who need accurate time but only within milliseconds. For time at this level, we have the Internet Time Service (ITS), where people can synchronize computers and other equipment or devices to our internet servers. This is built into most computer operating systems. Your computer accesses this information automatically, so you’ve probably used this service without even realizing it.
In our lab, I build measurement systems that we can use to measure clocks remotely to calibrate the clocks of our customers around the world. Our customers are institutions that need very accurate time, such as the aerospace, power grid, communication, and financial industries, along with research institutions. Time is so crucial to these customers that they need accurate timing from microseconds (one millionth of a second) to nanoseconds (one billionth of a second).
Milliseconds to nanoseconds
Happy New Year!
Something I find fascinating is our perception of the rate of time. Some days (and years!) go by quickly, and some drag on. When we think back to the past, even distant memories are sometimes clear, and some recent memories have already faded away.
I happen to take it a little further, using objects of unknown origin from thrift stores, estate sales, or simply found to imagine or wonder about their history. Finding a family photo album or a collection of letters presents interesting information about total strangers. I once even found a stack of letters between a person in prison and their sweetie on the outside. People’s things offer such a fascinating glimpse into lives and times different from our own.
By measuring and comparing all these atomic clocks, we create a clock ensemble. You wouldn’t want to have just one clock keeping time for the whole country, so we use a weighted average of the clocks for the best possible stability.
So, if you turn on a flashlight, that light will have traveled a foot away from the flashlight in a nanosecond—that’s inconceivably fast.
I enjoy creating experiences for people. I’ve been in bands and other performances and strive to produce interesting art. I’ve created themed food events and puzzle hunts.
These things help me to remember my past or discover the past of others. Every object has a history. What’s the difference between an everyday object and an antique? It’s really just the passage of time or sentimental memories that give things more value to us. A pocketknife or a keychain could be unmemorable—unless it belonged to a beloved uncle who passed away. Then maybe it means more or brings up memories. That’s why family heirlooms exist.
While we always ensure that we have the exact time, on New Year’s Eve (and daylight saving time changes), many more people are looking out for the correct time. Sometimes on New Year’s Eve, there is a leap second—it’s an extra second we add to the time worldwide to let Earth “catch up” to our official time. We haven’t had one of those in a while, but it does make New Year’s Eve even more interesting for timekeepers like me.
Keeping time for the country and the world
A millisecond is one-thousandth of one second, and a microsecond is a millionth of a second.
Sometimes I “perform” PowerPoint presentations as an opening act at concerts. This is funny because people aren’t expecting it. I’ve done talks on conspiracy theories, bloodhounds, ossuaries (rooms or containers where bones of dead people are placed), and more.
As primary standards improve, researchers must develop better ways of getting time out to industry and the public. Things such as GPS, mobile phone communications, and time-stamping stock market transactions require the use of precise time.
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My topics are usually vaguely related to something else happening that evening, but I never announce the topics ahead of time. Our brains remember the unexpected. So even if people don’t like it, they will remember it, even if just to complain about it the next day! Most of the projects I work on are about subverting or going beyond people’s expectations—which is what makes them interesting or memorable.
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At the NIST Time and Frequency Division, to produce the official time of day, we begin by defining the duration of the second. This is actually quite complex and involves a lot of interesting science.
A computer can perform millions or billions of operations in a second, and we need to be able to measure it.
Time.gov lets you see the official U.S. time in multiple time zones at once. It actually uses your computer clock to measure the round-trip delay of the request to the NIST server so it can display the correct time on your screen.
Tempus fugit
 NIST researcher Andrew Novick stands next to racks of frequency measurement equipment in his lab at NIST’s campus in Boulder, Colorado. On New Year’s Eve, he’ll be keeping an extra close eye on time.gov, the source to see current, official time throughout the United States. Credit: R. Wilson/NIST |
If we strive to do new things and create significant memories, time may pass by quickly as they are happening, but our stored recollections will be plentiful. Our lives may seem much longer and fuller, and I try to do this as much as possible. There is plenty of capacity in our brains, and keeping our minds active is a way to help us store and recall all the great times we’ve had.
Making the most of every moment
I’m also an avid collector, a hobby which also relates to time. I love bits of ephemera, such as old restaurant menus, unique cereal boxes, movie/concert ticket stubs, and found photographs. I like board games, toys, and other objects related to TV, movies, and other pop culture.
Innovation
Auld Lang ‘Time’
Welcoming the new year as a time expert
There are studies about how our perception of time changes as we get older. Each passing day, month, or year is a smaller sliver of your total life the older you get. When you’re a kid, a year is a significant portion of your life. At 80 years old, one year makes up a tiny fraction of your life and experiences.
Published: Tuesday, January 16, 2024 – 12:02