When the world skips a beat.

The article looks at international time standards, discussing the fact that the earth's rotation is not precisely 24 hours and that extra seconds must sometimes be added to maintain the synchronization between the time and the position of the sun in the sky. It notes such "leap seconds" have caused...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:New Statesman Vol. 143; no. 5207; p. 15
Main Author: Brooks, Michael
Format: Article
Published: New Statesman Ltd. 5/2/2014
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Description
Summary:The article looks at international time standards, discussing the fact that the earth's rotation is not precisely 24 hours and that extra seconds must sometimes be added to maintain the synchronization between the time and the position of the sun in the sky. It notes such "leap seconds" have caused problems in computerized systems and discusses the disagreement over whether to end the practice.