For the first time in history, world timekeepers may have to consider subtracting a second from our clocks in a few years because the planet is rotating a tad faster
Earth’s changing spin is threatening to toy with our sense of time, clocks and computerized society in an unprecedented way — but only for a second. than it used to. Clocks may have to skip a second — called a “negative leap second” — around 2029, a study in the journal Nature said Wednesday. “This is an unprecedented situation and a big deal,” said study lead author Duncan Agnew, a geophysicist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.
Agnew said the core has been triggering a speedup for about 50 years, but rapid melting of ice at the poles since 1990 masked that effect. Melting ice shifts Earth’s mass from the poles to the bulging center, which slows the rotation much like a spinning ice skater slows when extending their arms out to their sides, he said. Without the effect of melting ice, Earth would need that negative leap second in 2026 instead of 2029, Agnew calculated.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
NASA and Google Earth team up with researchers to help save tigersAndrew Paul is Popular Science‘s staff writer covering tech news. Previously, he was a regular contributor to The A.V. Club and Input, and has had recent work featured by Rolling Stone, Fangoria, GQ, Slate, NBC, as well as McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. He lives outside Indianapolis.
Read more »
NASA radar images show stadium-sized asteroid tumbling by Earth during flyby (photos)Brett is curious about emerging aerospace technologies, alternative launch concepts, military space developments and uncrewed aircraft systems. Brett's work has appeared on Scientific American, The War Zone, Popular Science, the History Channel, Science Discovery and more.
Read more »
'It's Been Hell on Earth': Inside Alabama's Fertility CrisisJessica Goodman is the New York Times bestselling author of The Counselors, They'll Never Catch Us, and They Wish They Were Us. She is the former op-ed editor at Cosmopolitan magazine, and was part of the 2017 team that won a National Magazine Award in personal service.
Read more »
First-ever attempt to remove dead rocket from Earth’s orbit kicks offThe ADRAS-J satellite began the rendezvous operation phase with this dead rocket on February 22.
Read more »
Mahindra Thar Earth Edition Is The New Flagship Of India’s Wrangler KnockoffThe special edition of the Mahindra Thar is four times cheaper than a genuine Jeep Wrangler in India
Read more »
How Startups on Earth Could Blaze a Trail for Cities on MarsMars Society President Robert Zubrin says he's working on a plan to create business startups that could support eventual Mars settlements.
Read more »