[time-nuts] The forbidden question

Hal Murray hmurray at megapathdsl.net
Tue Jun 4 22:05:02 UTC 2019


> Are we developing these incredible devices just to push boundaries? Or do
> they have some practical purpose?

I don't know of any current projects that need a significantly better clock, 
but that's the sort of thing that wouldn't get a lot of publicity - just some 
hand-waving discussions.  "What if we could ..."


If you want some ideas to BS about...

You might ask the radio astronomers what they would do with a better clock.

What would the radio guys do with better clocks?  I'll bet you can dig deeper 
into the noise when trying to find a spread spectrum signal.

It would be interesting to look at the history of similar advances.  Cesium 
clocks are now in widespread use.  Rubidium clocks are a spinoff.  Were any of 
the common uses anticipated back when people were struggling to build the 
initial atomic clocks?  How much of the engineering associated with atomic 
clocks was uncovered by the early researchers?

Is there a good history of the early uses of transistors?

>From an engineering standpoint, it often helps to have smart people hanging 
around.  You may get ideas at lunch or the water-cooler/coffee-pot even if 
there isn't a more formal way to pick their brains.


-- 
These are my opinions.  I hate spam.







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