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Title: 2008 Will Be Just a Second Longer Post by: Allhallowsday on December 08, 2008, 07:55:33 PM 2008 Will Be Just a Second Longer
On Dec. 31 this year, your day will be just a second longer. Like the more well-known time adjustment, the leap year, a "leap second" is tacked on to clocks every so often to keep them correct. Earth's trip around the sun - our year with all its seasons - is about 365.2422 days long, which we round to 365 to keep things simpler. But every four years, we add 0.2422 x 4 days (that's about one day) at the end of the month of February (extending it from 28 to 29 days) to fix the calendar... http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/2008willbejustasecondlonger (http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/2008willbejustasecondlonger) Title: Re: 2008 Will Be Just a Second Longer Post by: Rev. Powell on December 09, 2008, 03:42:58 PM So what are you planning to do with your extra second? I'm considering taking an extra 1/2 sip of champagne on New Years Eve. Although, if I have an itch at the time, I might just use the bonus second to scratch it instead.
Title: Re: 2008 Will Be Just a Second Longer Post by: Psycho Circus on December 09, 2008, 03:45:15 PM I'm going to have an extra second of sleep...
Title: Re: 2008 Will Be Just a Second Longer Post by: ER on December 10, 2008, 10:20:35 AM For some reason this reminds me of my grandpa's story of when he got in trouble in fourth grade (I think he was always getting in trouble...) so the teacher made him stay in from recess and calculate how many seconds there'd be in the twentieth-century. I wonder if he remembered to add on leap seconds?
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