The sixty-one second minute ...

Categories: Do You Know?
Get ready for a 61 seconds minute. Yes that's right. One minute with sixty-one seconds.

Scientists are delaying the start of 2006 by the first "leap second" in seven years, a timing tweak meant to make up for changes in the Earth's rotation.
A leap second is added to keep uniform timekeeping within 0.9 second of the Earth's rotational time, which can speed up or slow down because of many factors, including ocean tides. The first leap second was added on June 30, 1972, according to NIST, an arm of the U.S. Commerce Department.

Deciding when to introduce a leap second is the responsibility of the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, a standards-setting body. Under an international pact, the preference for leap seconds is Dec 31 or June 30.

Now I wonder how the New Year countdown will be like.

....9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, minus one.... Happy New Year!?

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