Time–Who Needs It?

Time has become a very valuable commodity. In our everyday lives we never seem to have enough of it. In scientific and technical fields, such as navigation, telecommunications, and electrical power distribution, time is so valuable it must be measured extremely precisely.

But, how do you know the time is right? That’s where the National Institute of Standards and Technology, better known as NIST, comes in. As a non-regulatory agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, NIST develops and promotes measurement, standards, and technology to enhance productivity, facilitate trade, and improve the quality of life. Part of NIST’s mission is to work with other nations to define and disseminate basic standards like length, mass, and the second.

In its laboratories in Boulder, Colo., NIST maintains the world’s most accurate clock. The NIST F1 Clock will neither gain nor lose a second in 30 million years. NIST transmits its most accurate time to the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris, which accumulates the best time data from many other nations, averages them, and distributes that average as Universal Coordinated Time, or UTC. It is this official time that is used worldwide.

You can find the official time Web site at www.time.gov. By clicking on your time zone, you will get the time of day to within 0.2 second. If you don’t mind spending a few cents for a long distance call, you also can get the official time by dialing (303) 499-7111. You will hear a series of clicks and then a voice announcement on the minute. It will be given in UTC so you will have to adjust for your time zone.

If you have a shortwave radio, you can get continuous time broadcasts from NIST’s shortwave radio stations—WWV in Fort Collins, Colo., or WWVH in Hawaii. Most recently, NIST has boosted the power on an ultralow frequency radio station—WWVB—in Fort Collins that broadcasts throughout the lower 48 states. Some clock and watch manufacturers have placed tiny receivers in their products that can pull in the WWVB signal and automatically reset your timepiece to UTC.

To learn more about NIST time services, the history of timekeeping, and ongoing research to make even more precise clocks, go to www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/index.html.

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Date created: 09/13/02
Contact: inquiries@nist.gov