Molecular clock could greatly improve smartphone navigation


Rob Matheson


MIT researchers have developed the first molecular clock on a chip, which uses the constant, measurable rotation of molecules — when exposed to a certain frequency of electromagnetic radiation — to keep time. Your smartphone, therefore, has a much less accurate internal clock that relies on three satellite signals to navigate and can still calculate wrong locations. “The output of the system is linked to that known number — about 231 gigahertz,” Han says. The chip could also be used on the battlefield, Han says. “Soldiers themselves then don’t have GPS signals anymore,” Han says.


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