Glad leap second! — Science Information, January 12, 1974
A “leap second” has been invented … to maintain time alerts utilized by navigators consistent with the precise movement of the Earth. The newest leap second was celebrated New Yr’s Eve on the stroke of midnight Greenwich Imply Time, when all over the world … radio stations added an additional “beep” to their hourly time alerts.
Replace
Time is working out for the leap second. In 2022, metrologists voted to desert the timekeeping quirk by 2035. In contrast to the intercalary year, which happens each 4 years, the leap second is deployed each time clocks want adjusting attributable to variations in Earth’s spin inflicting slight adjustments within the size of a day. World officers have inserted a leap second 27 instances since 1972. However satellites and different tech that depend on the exact time saved by atomic clocks can glitch when the clocks are adjusted (SN: 4/22/06, p. 248). Scientists have recommended utilizing a leap minute as a substitute, which might require atomic clocks be reset as soon as each 50 years or so.
