We all know about leap years, but did you know that there are “leap seconds” — and that scientists are arguing about whether to keep them? Leap seconds exist because the Earth doesn’t rotate with absolute precision. It speeds up and slows down as it spins, making some days a few milliseconds faster or slower [...]
Posts Tagged ‘clocks’
Looking At The Leap Second
Posted in Science, tagged clocks, Leap Seconds, Leap Years, Science, Time on January 29, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Technology, Timekeeping, And The King’s English
Posted in America, Reflections, tagged clocks, Dark Side Of The Moon, Generations, language, modern culture, Technology on August 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The standard clock — with its hour hand and minute hand, its twelve Arabic or Roman numerals, and its soothing metronomic ticking — is quickly becoming an endangered species. Think for a moment about how often you see a standard clock face any more. To the extent that commercial establishments have any kind of timekeeping [...]
