Chinese space scientists have proposed a universal standard for keeping time across the solar system that, unlike existing systems, does not put the Earth – or religion – at its centre. A new standard has become necessary as humans have ventured into space, according to their paper published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Electronic Measurement and Instrumentation last month. Although timekeeping is often taken for granted on Earth, it is a major challenge in outer space. It is impossible to determine the exact time on Mars by syncing it with the time on Earth because it takes three to 22...