Does anyone know how the atomic clock actually works?  A quick wiki check tells me that atomic clocks measure the precise microwave signal that electrons in atoms emit when they change energy levels.  Ok, I’ll accept that electrons somehow change energy levels, even though I don’t know why they do that or how it affects my life.  But how do electron energy levels tell time?  So the clock uses an atomic resonance frequency standard as its timekeeping element.  Is that sort of like a pendulum in a grandfather clock?  Only those well-versed in scientism can say for sure.

At least I understand how radio clocks like the Oregon Scientific TimeLight Projection Atomic Alarm Clock work.  These clocks receive radio signals from long-range transmitters that send out time data from scientific atomic clocks.  The better ones, like the TimeLight, are accurate to the second.  These radio clocks typically synchronize with an atomic clock via radio once per day, often during nighttime.  The rest of the day, they keep time using the same quartz crystals that practically every clock uses these days.

I don’t really know how quartz crystals work either, but that’s a whole ‘nother blog post.