A leap second is a period of time lasting one second which is occasionally added onto either June 30 or December 31 of a given year to compensate for a change in the Earth's rotation. The time adjustment is often completed in years which the difference between atomic time and Earth time builds up enough to need correction. A leap second will be added to the final minute of December 31, 2008.
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Leap Second Background and Information
- LeapSecond.com: Leap Second Resources
In this day and age, why can't we change to a more accurate yearly calendar by tweaking the day however many minutes/seconds are necessary?(1 Answer)
A:
Because society is so dependent on the concept of time and too set in its ways to alter the 24-hour rule. It would be like when we tried ...
Is there a little second timer on every unix computer? What is the arbitrary time it is started from?(1 Answer)
A:
Yes, there is a small second timer built into Unix. Unix time is being counted from the midnight UTC of January 1, 1970 (not counting leap seconds though).
Will you watch the Quantum Leap movie even though Scott Bakula won't be the lead role? (1 Answer)
A:
I think it's a shame they're not using them, just as I thought it was a shame George Lucas didn't cast a Star Wars with ...
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Extra seconds typically added to the final minute of June 30 or December 31 of given yearCNN.com: Time added to 2008 allows for longer smooch (December 31, 2008)
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