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Some days, time seems to just stand still
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2015 10:20 pm
by Long Run
Tomorrow being one:
NASA Explains Why June 30 Will Get Extra Second
The day will officially be a bit longer than usual on Tuesday, June 30, 2015, because an extra second, or “leap” second, will be added.
“Earth’s rotation is gradually slowing down a bit, so leap seconds are a way to account for that,” said Daniel MacMillan of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Strictly speaking, a day lasts 86,400 seconds. That is the case, according to the time standard that people use in their daily lives – Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC. UTC is “atomic time” – the duration of one second is based on extremely predictable electromagnetic transitions in atoms of cesium. These transitions are so reliable that the cesium clock is accurate to one second in 1,400,000 years.
However, the mean solar day – the average length of a day, based on how long it takes Earth to rotate – is about 86,400.002 seconds long. That’s because Earth’s rotation is gradually slowing down a bit, due to a kind of braking force caused by the gravitational tug of war between Earth, the moon and the sun. Scientists estimate that the mean solar day hasn’t been 86,400 seconds long since the year 1820 or so.
http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/nas ... tra-second
Re: Some days, time seems to just stand still
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2015 11:31 pm
by MajGenl.Meade
I bet that means Gob gets extra time off work...
Re: Some days, time seems to just stand still
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2015 11:48 pm
by Crackpot
But what if it happens while he's actually working?! He might suffer a psychotic break from the stress of all that extra work!
Re: Some days, time seems to just stand still
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2015 11:54 pm
by Gob
I'm taking that to the Union, we should strike.
Re: Some days, time seems to just stand still
Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 3:57 am
by Lord Jim
Some days, time seems to just stand still
(That was
such a fat pitch, it was almost embarrassing to swing at it...
)
Re: Some days, time seems to just stand still
Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:09 pm
by Long Run
Yes, so quiet you could hear a cricket chirp.
Re: Some days, time seems to just stand still
Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:16 pm
by MajGenl.Meade
Damn, I think I missed it.
Re: Some days, time seems to just stand still
Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:34 pm
by Joe Guy
It would help if they told us when the extra second will be added. Will it be in the morning, night or middle of day?
Re: Some days, time seems to just stand still
Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:40 pm
by oldr_n_wsr
Joe Guy wrote:It would help if they told us when the extra second will be added. Will it be in the morning, night or middle of day?
I heard that Google is adding fractions of a second throughout the day so as not to have it happen all at once.