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Groups > alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt > #35517

Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year

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On Wed, 04 Jan 2017 16:17:12 -0000, Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> wrote:

> On 04/01/17 01:06, James R. Kuyper wrote:
>> On 12/31/2016 04:57 PM, James Wilkinson Sword wrote:
>>> On Thu, 22 Dec 2016 13:43:58 -0000, Mr. Man-wai Chang
>>> <toylet.toylet@gmail.com> wrote:
>> ...
>>>> A "leap second" will be added to the world's official clocks on Dec. 31
>>>> at 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds Coordinated Universal Time (UTC),
>>>> which corresponds to 6:59:59 p.m. EST; the clocks will read 23:59:60
>>>> before ticking over to midnight. The goal is to keep two different
>>>> timescales in sync with each other.
>>>>
>>>> The units of time had long been defined based on Earth's rotation
>>>> relative to distant celestial bodies. But that changed with the
>>>> invention of atomic clocks in the mid-20th century; scientists then
>>>> decided to base the second on the natural vibrations of the cesium atom.
>>>> [How to Build the Most Accurate Atomic Clocks (Video)]
>>>>
>>>> These two timescales don't match up exactly, however. Measurements show
>>>> that, because the moon's gravitational pull and other factors are
>>>> gradually slowing Earth's spin, the rotation-based scale loses between
>>>> 1.5 and 2 milliseconds per day compared to atomic time — meaning the two
>>>> diverge by a full second every 500 to 750 days.
>>>>
>>>> Leap seconds are a way to make up for this difference. Since 1972, the
>>>> International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) — the
>>
>> That name always struck me as rather funny - it seems to imply that
>> they're responsible for making the Earth rotate. What they're actually
>> responsible for is keeping track of the Earth's rotation.
>>
>>>> organization that keeps track of time for the world — has added 26 leap
>>>> seconds to atomic clocks, with the last such insertion coming on June
>>>> 30, 2015.
>>>>
>>>>   The aim is to keep the two timescales within 0.9 seconds of each
>>>> other.
>> ...
>>> I wish they'd turn their attentions to not turning the clocks back and
>>> forth all the fucking time!
>>
>> If you could make the Earth rotate at a fixed rate, there would be no
>> need for leap seconds. It's perfect feasible, though the costs would be
>> astronomical. Would you care to pay enough in taxes to make that happen?
>
>
> You missed his point. He's not talking about leap seconds now, but about
> Daylight Saving Time. He thinks it's stupid that we keep putting our
> clocks forward an hour in the spring and an hour back in the evening ---
> and he's right. Those who are familiar with his output should not be
> /too/ surprised that he's right --- even a stopped clock can be right
> twice a day.

Also, I've yet to see a reason why we can't just live with being 1 second different to sunrise....

-- 
Do infants have as much fun in their infancy as adults do in adultery?

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'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year "Mr. Man-wai Chang" <toylet.toylet@gmail.com> - 2016-12-22 21:43 +0800
  Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year Siri Cruise <chine.bleu@yahoo.com> - 2016-12-22 05:48 -0800
    Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year "Mr. Man-wai Chang" <toylet.toylet@gmail.com> - 2016-12-22 22:09 +0800
    Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year Krzysztof Mitko <invalid@kmitko.at.list.dot.pl> - 2016-12-24 13:47 +0100
      Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year Siri Cruise <chine.bleu@yahoo.com> - 2016-12-24 05:39 -0800
  Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year Mark Lloyd <not@mail.invalid> - 2016-12-22 14:31 -0600
    Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year Mark Storkamp <mstorkamp@yahoo.com> - 2016-12-23 08:34 -0600
      Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year "J-P. Rosen" <rosen@adalog.fr> - 2016-12-23 16:55 +0100
    Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year "James R. Kuyper" <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2017-01-03 20:46 -0500
  Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year Jason <jason_warren@ieee.DELETE.org> - 2016-12-22 17:14 -0500
    Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year "Jonathan N. Little" <lws4art@gmail.com> - 2016-12-22 17:40 -0500
      Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year Jason <jason_warren@ieee.org> - 2016-12-23 19:57 -0500
        Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year Char Jackson <none@none.invalid> - 2016-12-23 21:44 -0600
          Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year "James Wilkinson Sword" <imvalid@somewear.com> - 2016-12-31 23:42 +0000
  Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year "James Wilkinson Sword" <imvalid@somewear.com> - 2016-12-31 21:57 +0000
    Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year "James R. Kuyper" <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2017-01-03 20:06 -0500
      Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year "James Wilkinson Sword" <imvalid@somewear.com> - 2017-01-04 15:44 +0000
        Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year "James R. Kuyper" <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2017-01-04 14:11 -0500
          Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year "James Wilkinson Sword" <imvalid@somewear.com> - 2017-01-04 19:58 +0000
      Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2017-01-04 16:17 +0000
        Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year "James Wilkinson Sword" <imvalid@somewear.com> - 2017-01-04 21:03 +0000
          Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year Larc <larc@notmyaddress.com> - 2017-01-04 16:32 -0500
          Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year "Osmium" <r124c4u102@comcast.net> - 2017-01-05 14:15 -0600
            Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year "James Wilkinson Sword" <imvalid@somewear.com> - 2017-01-06 01:26 +0000
          Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) - 2017-01-09 17:12 +0000
            Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year Har-dee-har-har <YouMustBeKidding@This.Com> - 2017-01-09 09:53 -0800
              Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year "J-P. Rosen" <rosen@adalog.fr> - 2017-01-10 07:20 +0100
            Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year "James Wilkinson Sword" <imvalid@somewear.com> - 2017-01-12 23:17 +0000
              Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year Tim <timothybil@yahoo.com> - 2017-01-13 00:51 -0600
      Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year antispam@math.uni.wroc.pl - 2017-01-05 19:28 +0000
        Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year "James Wilkinson Sword" <imvalid@somewear.com> - 2017-01-05 21:41 +0000
  Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year Dänk 42Ø <dank@nugget.org> - 2017-01-02 07:08 +0000
    Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2017-01-01 23:46 -0800
      Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year Dänk 42Ø <dank@nugget.org> - 2017-01-02 21:56 +0000
        Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2017-01-02 15:38 -0800
    Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year "James R. Kuyper" <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2017-01-03 20:26 -0500

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