Ekkehard Peik

Stories

First thorium nuclear clocks begin ticking in Vienna and Beijing

As of October 2026: Co-originator of the thorium-229 nuclear clock concept

For 70 years, the world's most precise clocks have counted the vibrations of electrons orbiting an atom. In early October 2026, two teams — one in Vienna, one in Beijing — unveiled the first clocks that read time from the ticking of a thorium nucleus instead.

Updated Oct 11