Story perspectives

Power Outage Delays Atomic Clocks, Timekeeping Remains Accurate

12/23/2025

Summary

Story summary

A power outage last week delayed some of the world's most precise atomic clocks at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (N.I.S.T.) in Boulder, Colorado by about five-millionths of a second.
The impact was minimal because a network of redundant clocks across the United States kept time.
Fort Collins and Gaithersburg facilities remained unaffected.
N.I.S.T. officials reassured that the timekeeping system is robust, stating that 'time isn't broken'.

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Story summary

A power outage last week delayed some of the world's most precise atomic clocks at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (N.I.S.T.) in Boulder, Colorado by about five-millionths of a second.
The impact was minimal because a network of redundant clocks across the United States kept time.
Fort Collins and Gaithersburg facilities remained unaffected.
N.I.S.T. officials reassured that the timekeeping system is robust, stating that 'time isn't broken'.