“If only there were fewer hours a day,” no one said, ever.
Still, the Earth does not slow anyone down. In fact, according to world time officials, it is accelerating, prompting suggestions to shorten the minute by a second, the Telegraph reports.
The data show that our old 24-hour daily rotation is gradually declining, making the day marginally shorter. For example, Sunday only lasted 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59.9998927 seconds, according to TimeAndDate.com. And although the planet’s rotational speed may accelerate or decrease slightly from one day to the next, due to natural terrestrial and celestial alterations, astronomical trends in the calendar indicate that recent years have they have generally reduced.
For example, 2020 exceeded 28 times the shortest day of 2005 and 2021 is projected to be approximately 19 milliseconds from a typical year, with an average daily deficit of 0.5 milliseconds.
Watchmakers around the world are used to playing with time. Since the development of the atomic clock in the 1960s, “second twins” have been added 27 times to make up for it. slowing down rotation, according to EarthSky.org. However, the last time the adjustment was requested was in 2016. Since then, the Earth has begun to rotate faster than usual and now scientists suggest a possible “second negative leap” in order to to balance time with our position in space.
“It’s certainly right for the Earth to rotate faster than at any time in the last 50 years,” Peter Whibberley, a senior researcher in the time and frequency group at the National Physics Laboratory, told the Telegraph.
“It is very possible that a second negative jump will be needed if the Earth’s rotational speed increases further, but it is too early to say whether this is likely to happen,” Whibberley continued. He added that an “international discussion … about the future of second jumps” would determine whether or not timers continue their attempts to make up for lost time.
Fractional difference may not be felt on an individual scale, but the implications are fundamental to science and technology, as satellite communication and navigation systems are based on time consistent with the cosmos.
The Paris-based International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service is responsible for declaring expected transfer seconds to nations around the world, but some argue that the practice of adding and removing seconds to correct time can cause more confusion than good. In 2012, an added second jump caused server crashes on several Internet sites, including Reddit, Yelp, and LinkedIn, while altering those using Linux operating systems and software using Javascript.
As a result, some national leaders have pushed to end second-jump corrections in favor of using an unrestricted atomic clock – shorter days and all. This decision will finally be in the hands of the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2023, according to the Telegraph.