Who decides how long a second is? – John Kitching

Discover how scientists developed atomic clocks, which use the vibrations of atoms to measure and maintain a globally consistent time.

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In 1967, researchers gathered to answer a long-running scientific question: just how long is a second? It might seem obvious at first. A second is the tick of a clock, the swing of a pendulum, the time it takes to count to one. But how precise are those measurements? And what is that length based on? John Kitching digs into how we scientifically define this fundamental unit of time.

Lesson by John Kitching, directed by Tjoff Koong.

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