TOKYO, March 5, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Resembling a squat, wide fridge, the world's most 
accurate clock went on sale for $3.3 million in Japan on Wednesday.

The "Aether clock OC 020" is so precise that it would take 10 billion years for it to deviate by 
one second, according to its Kyoto-based manufacturer Shimadzu Corp.

Known as a "strontium optical lattice clock", it is 100 times more accurate than caesium atomic 
clocks, the current standard for defining seconds, the precision-equipment producer said in a 
statement.

The machine, a box around a metre (three feet) tall, is small for its kind with a volume of 
around 250 litres. It can also be used in research fieldwork.

Shimadzu is aiming to sell 10 of its clocks over the next three years and hopes its customers 
will use them to advance scientific research in areas such as the observation of tectonic 
activity.

Optical lattice clocks have previously been installed in Tokyo's famous Skytree to test the 
general theory of relativity, which states that "time flows more slowly in places with strong 
gravity".