The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has recently released a notice, revealing that an atomic - clock apparatus at its Boulder Campus in Colorado experienced a malfunction following a prolonged power outage. This led to some time servers, which offer internet - timing services, temporarily losing their capacity to independently furnish high - precision time signals. Among the affected equipment stands the newly operational NIST - F4 atomic fountain clock, renowned as one of the most precise timing devices globally.

The root cause of this incident can be traced back to extreme winds that wreaked havoc on power lines, prompting preventive power shutdowns. Although backup power sources were swiftly activated, at least one crucial backup generator malfunctioned. This failure forced the shutdown of air - cooling systems in most buildings, severely disrupting the main signal distribution chain of the atomic clock system. Consequently, the system lost synchronization with Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

A spokesperson from NIST confirmed that the power interruption caused the standard time to drift by approximately 4.8 microseconds. For context, a microsecond is one - millionth of a second, so this deviation is imperceptible to the average user and will have no impact on daily life.

NIST has promptly implemented redundant defense mechanisms to uphold a high degree of resilience in its timing services. At present, the power supply at the Boulder facility remains unrestored. However, the system is in a secure state, with no further risk of damage. Once external power is reinstated, the technical team will immediately recalibrate the atomic clock to rectify any deviations.