The New York Times has a delightful little article today in “Ideas and Trends.”
It is all about time—but not years, days or even minutes.
We are talking about how, in order to keep time precise, the “international authorities” charged with such matters will add one second to, in effect, our lives on December 31.
The reason for this is explained in the Times article and has to do with the earth’s rotation that gives us one method of measuring time(“because of tidal friction and other natural phenomena, that rotation is slowing down by about two-thousandths of a second a day”), and the use of extremely precise “atomic clocks” that measure time to within a billionth of a second a day.
Thus, in order to synchronize the two “systems,” a “leap second” has to be added to the latter system periodically “every 500 days or so.” So on New Year’s Eve, the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, based in Frankfurt, will order that the world’s atomic clocks be stopped for a second to put the two systems back in synchronization.
What I found particularly interesting is the following, according to the Times:
“It’s an aesthetic thing more than anything,” said Geoff Chester, a spokesman for the United States Naval Observatory. “Life wouldn’t end if we eliminated the leap second.”
Indeed, life might be easier if we did. In our digital world, the smooth operation of everything from A.T.M.’s to the Internet depends on the exactly timed transmission of electronic data. Leap seconds can crash cellphones, G.P.S. receivers, computer networks and other modern conveniences that have not been programmed to expect them. “Leap seconds turn out to be more of a pain in the neck than Y2K ever was,” Mr. Chester said.
And, apparently, “a working group of the International Telecommunications Union, part of the United Nations, has proposed ending the leap second. Conceivably, we could see the introduction of a “leap minute,” slipped in only once every century.”
The author says:
If [the extra second] doesn’t sound like a big deal, consider that in one second a cheetah can dash 34 yards, a telephone signal can travel 100,000 miles, a hummingbird can beat its wings 70 times, and eight million of your blood cells can die.
I just would like to add, “If the extra second doesn’t sound like a big deal, consider that we will have one more second of a Bush administration—and all its consequences.”
Smile—Happy New Year!
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.