So, today, it doesn’t end at 23:59:59, rather 23:59:60. Where does this rogue second leap from? Before the planet enters July 01, a bonus second will be added to the official time set by atomic clocks. This extra second is called “leap second”, which simply means that the last minute of June 30 will have 61 seconds instead of the fixed 60. Though this addition comes at a price—it gives headaches to computer systems as the time is added manually—it is to keep the clock in sync with the “slowing” Earth and its seasons.
What, slowing? Did we hear it right?
Yes. The Earth is gradually slowing down. While in theory it takes 86,400 seconds for one rotation, in practice, it completes one rotation at around 86,400.002 seconds. These fractions of seconds keep on accumulating day after day and year after year. Clearly, the slowing process is too sluggish. But over long periods, it adds up to remarkable chunks of time that can potentially be a threat to our concept of time, which is related to Earth’s day-and-night cycle and seasonal schedules. To tackle this, the “leap second” or an extra second is added to the official clocks that gives the Earth time to catch up to the position based on the traditional solar cycle.
Image source: iStock.com
The announcement of adding the leap second is done by the International Earth Rotation and Reference System Services. In 1972, leap second was established as an international standard. Since then there have been 25 such seconds added to the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
Why it’s a hiccup in the time scale and how it confuses computer systems?
As leaps seconds are announced only 6 months in advance, computers and software cannot be supplied with the extra time units programmed in. They must be inserted manually. But getting it wrong can trigger massive inconveniences and software hiccups (remember the 2012 Internet break down?). As the machines are programmed to have 60 seconds in a minute, they will simply act up when you ask them to accept the extra second.
While there will be unavoidable glitches, our attempts should be to have fewer of them than we had in 2012.
The debate that whether to keep it or abolish will be broached at the World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva in November this year. Meanwhile, if you are wondering how to spend that precious second before the day ends, here’s a clue by Comedian John Oliver:
