In Search of Lost Time — The science of the perfect second

Some OF members might enjoy this one

https://harpers.org/archive/2023/04/the-science-of-the-perfect-second/

Very neat. I remember as a kid calling the Milwaukee area time number and pressing the "reset" button on my digital watch to get it synchronized at the top of the minute.

I think the number might have been 799-1212. Didn't have to do the 414 area code back then. Just tried calling it and it was ringing w/ no answer. I still remember the generated voice "At the tone, the time will be....eight.....thirty-four....and 10 seconds....<BEEP>"

ah, 414-844-1414, but you have to listen to an ad and there's no synchronizing tone. but you do get weather!

Interesting, by the end of the year 2024, French CNES project PHARAO will become the first cold-atom clock ever to orbit Earth, operating outside the International Space Station.
https://pharao.cnes.fr/fr