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Do you believe the 2012 Mayan Prophecy? view!
whowillsurvive2012.com - The Mayan Calendar predicts the end of time: 2012. See the trailer for 2012, opening November 13.
112 Comments
- amabaie, on 04/16/2009, -2/+50In 300 million years, will they provide a report confirming the accuracy of their predictions? Or will they provide that report in 299,999,999 years, 364 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds?
- Sonan, on 04/16/2009, -0/+38Unrelated, but I never understood why most GPS devices don't display the time. I mean, the process of determining your location by GPS essentially syncs the device's internal clock with atomic clocks, so it's probably going to be the most accurate clock any of us ever have access to. Yet most of them don't even display the time. Sure, it's UTC, so you'd need to know the timezone. Too bad GPS devices don't know where the user is so they can figure that out automatically... Oh wait...
- inactive, on 04/17/2009, -0/+33Do you realize the amount of complex math that would take? Next you'll be saying that freezers should make ice cubes automatically.
- dvsbastard, on 04/17/2009, -1/+29^ That's not the point... amabaie was making a clever joke... I hope you're not that thick.
- Rain12913, on 04/17/2009, -1/+19Good thing they invented this, cause with the other clock being one second off in 150 million years from now we'd be *****.
- Sonan, on 04/16/2009, -0/+15Don't worry. Not all of us are humorless like maximilen below...
- eramos, on 04/17/2009, -2/+16It's the most accurate because time has a very precise value based on the speed of light which is a constant in the universe; how well a clock measures against an ideal time piece (i.e. how much time it loses/gains over a period) is a measurement of how accurate it is.
So no, you are quite wrong. But you'll get dugg up anyway because clearly snarky comments have t3h wisd0m - mdoom, on 04/17/2009, -0/+13^ ugh. there is a reply button for a reason. Posting a new comment with a ^ just so it gets more views...
at least use a ↑ - AtWorkSurfer, on 04/17/2009, -0/+12Nowadays, every cellphone has an autosynchronized clock, any device with a GPS receiver has an autosynchronized clock, every freaking computer anywhere automatically updates with the NIST servers, many wristwatches have WWVB radios in them, and desk clocks and wall clocks with WWVB radios are available everywhere... so why is it that the local bank's outdoor display clock is STILL 2 minutes behind, and the announcer on the local public radio station is usually about a minute off, as well?
It drives me nuts. I may just have to move to Germany. - inactive, on 04/17/2009, -0/+11Explain how timekeeping is arbitrary
- PeanutCheeseBar, on 04/17/2009, -0/+7OSHI--
- armakaryk, on 04/17/2009, -0/+7time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so. -d.a.
- bobboberton, on 04/17/2009, -1/+8"The researchers claim the new atomic clock is more than twice as accurate as timepieces currently used to regulate international time zones and satellite systems."
Is that really necessary when the current timepieces are accurate to losing a second every 150 million years? - inactive, on 04/17/2009, -0/+7Where can I buy one? My clock is almost 3 minutes off every 2 weeks.
- leftler, on 04/17/2009, -0/+6I am a little late, but the way they can tell is they count vibrations of the atom, now that number is around 2x10^40 +/- 10 per second (this is just a number i pulled out of the air to show a example), now if the old one was half as accurate it was 2x10^40 +/- 20 vibrations per second. Their goal is to get that +/- to 0, that is what a "perfect" timepiece would be.
- slashdotordigg, on 04/17/2009, -2/+8In 100 years we will look back and laugh at this. "phhf every 300M years you gotta change? My clock divides anything by zero!"
- hagfish, on 04/17/2009, -0/+6"A man with one watch knows what time it is; a man with two watches is never quite sure." -- Lee Segall
Let's hope they never make another.. - diggydougie, on 04/17/2009, -0/+6Yes. By definition.
- shinkou, on 04/17/2009, -0/+5I won't care if I'm going to lose a buck when I have a million dollars. But that's why I can't be a scientist... orz
- sparkplug890, on 04/17/2009, -3/+8But can it run Crysis?
- berroci, on 04/17/2009, -0/+5Hopefully this will also stir up publicity for my own invention: the world's most accurate piece of wood. It's been crafted to be more like a piece of wood than anything else anywhere.
- lifegaurdm, on 04/17/2009, -1/+6This sounds like a waste of time to me. haha ha.
- Chairboy, on 04/17/2009, -0/+5A man with one clock knows what time it is. A man with two is never quite sure.
- Traiklin, on 04/17/2009, -0/+5But can I ***** it?
- digitul, on 04/17/2009, -0/+5but will it blend?
- Rain12913, on 04/17/2009, -0/+4Comment placement fail =/
- cezx, on 04/17/2009, -1/+5does it take into account the theory of relativity?
- Kurosu, on 04/17/2009, -1/+5Touche, but my watch has a spiny thingy and it can tell me the date. Beat that.
- asgardshill, on 04/17/2009, -0/+4FTA:
"Like its predecessors, the strontium atomic clock at the University of Colorado, harnesses the natural – and extremely consistent – vibration of atoms to keep track of time.
But it makes the "pendulum effect" of atoms even more consistent by holding them in a laser beam and freezing them to almost minus 273 degrees – the temperature at which all matter stops resonating."
In other words, you'll probably have to recalibrate it when the power supply fails or an earthquake comes along. - asgardshill, on 04/17/2009, -8/+12Isn't this a bit like claiming that the ruler in your desk drawer is the most accurate ruler ever made in history? How would one actually prove that? It's not like you can nick your kid's plastic school ruler to use as a basis for comparison.
- morepowerr, on 04/17/2009, -0/+4case would probably work better.
- PeanutCheeseBar, on 04/17/2009, -0/+4...but can it run Crysis?
- ASSASSYN360, on 04/17/2009, -0/+4But can I wear it?
- eggdog14, on 04/17/2009, -0/+3At a certain point it can't possibly matter, can it?
Especially since time is man's invention and all that.. - Solkre, on 04/17/2009, -0/+3My Garmin sets it time from the signal.
- michelsonmorley, on 04/17/2009, -0/+3But how do they avoid relativity? If it's on a mountain versus the bottom of the ocean, it'll be off by far more than that.
- morepowerr, on 04/17/2009, -1/+4It make a lot of different when. When you need to open a gate at the right time in the right place. If not you could be in for a hell of a fall or floating off in to space.
- jorad, on 04/17/2009, -0/+3So in 300 million years, it'll still be flashing 12:00
- AbbasJin, on 04/17/2009, -0/+3i want one.
- LeviTheSmith, on 04/17/2009, -0/+3I am really going to watch this story quite closely. Maybe in due time we'll see more advancements like this.
- asgardshill, on 04/17/2009, -0/+3Actually, my old school Magellan 300 displays the local time and date quite nicely. (But it's still a pain in the ass having to lug those topo maps around with me when I actually need to go find a geocache ...)
- clickwir, on 04/17/2009, -0/+3Why don't we just redefine how long a second is so this clock is accurate to one second in 1 billion years?
- tsaw1583, on 04/17/2009, -0/+3so exactly why is it important to be so accurate with time?
In my life.. the clocks in the house - and in the cars.. and at work are all off by at least several minutes. - Ramble, on 04/17/2009, -0/+2Clocks are adjusted for that.
- Rain12913, on 04/17/2009, -0/+2I'm well aware of that, I kinda figured the /s after my post was assumed.
- LeviTheSmith, on 04/17/2009, -0/+2HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA
- jumpenjack, on 04/17/2009, -0/+2that's how i do it
- mdoom, on 04/18/2009, -0/+2↑ @AbbasJin its Alt-24
- morepowerr, on 04/17/2009, -0/+2such a clock would be used to help with setting up a portal for dimensions travel.
- andrewlotta, on 04/17/2009, -0/+2Why is it so difficult for a clock to maintain accuracy?
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