U.S. Official Time Thrown Off by a Power Outage

A power failure at a U.S. government laboratory in Colorado caused the nation's official time to drift off by 4.8 microseconds. The incident occurred at a facility of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The lab houses one of the atomic clocks that sets the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) standard for the United States. Officials state the error is too small for the public to notice. However, such tiny discrepancies can affect critical systems. These include telecommunications, GPS signals, and some financial and power infrastructure. The system has since been corrected. The event highlights how physical disruptions can impact even the most precise digital systems.