December 20, 2025
Who broke time?
NTP at NIST Boulder Has Lost Power
Atomic clocks hiccup in Boulder; memes, mild panic, and Y2K flashbacks
TLDR: NIST’s Boulder lab lost power, so its Internet time servers are being switched off to avoid wrong timestamps. Commenters split between jokes and Y2K-level worry, while calmer voices point out radio time and other backups keep most clocks—and the internet—on track.
Boulder’s official timekeepers just blinked: a power outage knocked NIST’s atomic time setup off its footing, and they’re disabling local Internet time servers to avoid spreading wrong clocks. Cue comment section chaos. One joker quipped, “Did they look there?”, while another deadpanned Boulder’s having “a hell of a time.” The tension: is this a minor blip or a Y2K sequel? One nervous voice asked if this could cause “cascading errors equal to the hype of Y2K,” while others tried to calm things down.
Quick explainer: NTP (Network Time Protocol) is how computers agree on the time. NIST’s Boulder servers are a big, trusted source, but not the only one. A frequent-flyer nerd chimed in that WWV, the radio time station, still seems up, and many systems use multiple time sources anyway. Meanwhile, the mystique thickened as someone called top-tier timekeeping “eldritch magic,” demanding to know the backup plan. The lab says a crucial generator failed, campus is closed due to fire risk, and they’re scrambling for alternate power to keep those hydrogen maser clocks alive. The consensus? It’s dramatic, it’s real, but it’s not the end of the internet—more like the day the clock hit snooze. For the official word, see NIST’s time services
Key Points
- •A prolonged utility power outage at NIST’s Boulder campus caused the failure of the atomic ensemble time scale.
- •Boulder Internet Time Service lost an accurate reference; NIST intends to disable affected NTP servers to prevent incorrect time dissemination.
- •Affected hosts include time-a-b.nist.gov through time-e-b.nist.gov and ntp-b.nist.gov (authenticated NTP).
- •A critical standby generator likely failed; site closures and cooling/networking shutdowns limit monitoring and repairs.
- •No repair ETA; alternate power is being sought to keep hydrogen maser clocks alive, and separate-generator-backed clocks may enable later realignment.