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This title--"GPS does not account for leap seconds"--makes it sound like "GPS would not handle leap seconds", and has already confused another commenter, but GP
by saurik 4y ago
This title--"GPS does not account for leap seconds"--makes it sound like "GPS would not handle leap seconds", and has already confused another commenter, but GPS is just trying to provide a universal time reference and the concept of leap seconds can be (and is) then applied locally as a conversion from GPS to whatever your local time measurement / display is (which, for all GPS cares, is the Swatch .beat). So like, sure: it doesn't itself track leap seconds, but "account for" is too heavy as the overall usage of GPS certainly does and the design isn't somehow unable to support the concept.
- fmajid 4y agoNo, the right solution is to ditch leap seconds altogether, as proposed by the US and most of the civilized world, and resisted only by sticks-in-the-mud China and the UK.
- fmajid 4y agoYay, leap seconds were abolished today! https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03783-5 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03783-5
- the_mitsuhiko 4y agoJust to be clear: the proposal to ditch leap seconds introduces leap hours and is basically just a way to postpone the problem for 1000 years and for a future society to deal with.
- wbl 4y agoWasn't aware of the leap hour proposal
- nisegami 4y agoSounds acceptable to me.
- lifthrasiir 4y agoA great thing about the leap hour proposal is that, by that time, the current form of leap seconds would be already close to insufficient [1] and thus a reform would be required anyway. [1] The first leap hour, which would happen when DUTC is around 30 minutes, will happen around the late third millenium (https://www.ucolick.org/~sla/leapsecs/dutc.html https://www.ucolick.org/~sla/leapsecs/dutc.html) and by that time we will regularly have 6 leap seconds per year. Steve Allen is a sort of proponent for leap seconds and not much for leap hours, but to me this projected table is the best argument for leap hours.
- walnutclosefarm 4y agoHard to argue with postponing the problem for 1000 years. Even if any of the existing technical standards and solutions are still in use then, which is doubtful, they'll have plenty of time to decide whether to implement the leap hour or not.
- zozbot234 4y ago'Ditching leap seconds' would amount to ditching UTC. We already have TAI for uses where leap seconds are a hindrance.
- pencilguin 4y agoMillions of apps are committed to UTC, and will not be fixed. Fixing UTC just means not announcing any more leap seconds. Not doing a harmful thing anymore is always the best fix.
- fmajid 4y agoThat's what was decided today: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03783-5 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03783-5
- londons_explore 4y agoAnd not only that, GPS broadcasts, for free, the difference between GPS time (no leap seconds), and UTC (with leap seconds). They needen't have done that - GPS would work just fine without transmitting that information globally on a very low data rate carrier (50 bits per second), where every bit sent degrades the service (longer position locking time for everyone).