Thanks To Earth Speeding Up, We Could Scrap The Leap Second As Early As Next Month – And Gain The First Ever “Leap Hour”

Thanks To Earth Speeding Up, We Could Scrap The Leap Second As Early As Next Month – And Gain The First Ever “Leap Hour”

The Earth doesn’t rotate in exactly 24 hours… and that’s a bit of a problem.

Leap second proposal will keep software stacks in sync

For decades, global time experts have mapped atomic clock time to the earth’s rotation, periodically adding a second (aka a leap second) as rotation slowed. But the planet’s rotation has now slightly sped up, which could mean that a negative adjustment will be required.  The problem is that computer systems have not been programmed to do that. To avoid this issue, the General Conference on Weights and Measures (GCWM) in October will vote on a p…