5 ms·
> How, and whether, to keep atomic time in sync with Earth's rotation is still up for debate. […] > The CGPM — which also oversees the international system of
by throw0101a 4y ago
> How, and whether, to keep atomic time in sync with Earth's rotation is still up for debate.
[…]
> The CGPM — which also oversees the international system of units (SI) — has proposed that no leap second should be added for at least a century, allowing UT1 and UTC to slide out of sync by about 1 minute. But it plans to consult with other international organizations and decide by 2026 on what upper limit, if any, to put on how much they be allowed to diverge.
So everything about this hasn't quite been sorted out yet.
At some point there may need to be a reckoning like was done with the calendar:
> Second, in the years since the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325,[b] the excess leap days introduced by the Julian algorithm had caused the calendar to drift such that the (Northern) spring equinox was occurring well before its nominal 21 March date. This date was important to the Christian churches because it is fundamental to the calculation of the date of Easter. To reinstate the association, the reform advanced the date by 10 days:[c] Thursday 4 October 1582 was followed by Friday 15 October 1582.[3]
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar
As annoying as handling a leap second could be, if it happens even somewhat regularly it can be testing more often. Deciding in the future to do a 'one-off' event may be more challenging from both a coördination point of view, as well as trying to handle a rare event correctly in (e.g.) code.
- kps 4y agoThe correct answer is obvious — to stabilize the Earth's rotation — but there are a few implementation details to work out.
- kibwen 4y agoIf we simply detonate the moon it would cease affecting the Earth's rotation, thus solving the problem.
- Mountain_Skies 4y agoYou've created the plot for 'Space: 2099'. Don't let Hollywood steal your idea.
- Akronymus 4y agoWouldn't work afaict. You'd have to get rid of the mass, not just explode it.
- 4str0n0mer 4y agoIf you would detonate the moon, break it up into small pieces and smear them out over its orbit, tidal friction would cease. Tidal friction is a major component of the earth's rotation's slowdown.
- throw0101a 4y ago> If you would detonate the moon, break it up into small pieces […] Close to the plot of a recent Stephenson sci-fi novel: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seveneves https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seveneves
- JadeNB 4y ago> Wouldn't work afaict. You'd have to get rid of the mass, not just explode it. I'm sure kibwen had in mind a Hollywood explosion, whereby a detonated object ceases to exist, rather than turning into many smaller objects.
- ARandomerDude 4y ago“Sir, are you suggesting that we blow up the moon?”
- masklinn 4y agoBut wouldn't the rotational speed of the earth become more erratic?
- kibwen 4y agoIndeed, but all life would be extinguished by the ensuing orbital bombardment, thus solving the problem.
- KyleBerezin 4y agoIt would certainly be easier than fixing all of the software
- smegger001 4y agoFreeman Dyson figured out how to do that along time ago, he was more interested in speeding up rotation to disassemble a planet but the same method can be applied to set the rotation to a given speed. just build a planetary motor. encircle the earth with ferromagnetic coils, then fire asteroids (similarly banded) at the earth in a series of near misses the magnetic drag steals or imparts angular momentum depending on the direction of the asteroid relative to the earth.
- bewaretheirs 4y agoThe drift is sufficiently slow that you can fix it with a "leap hour" when needed -- perhaps once every five thousand years. This could be handled for civil/local time via an adjustment in the timezone definitions (something which happens a few times a year today), leaving the underlying UTC timebase unchanged.
- throw0101a 4y ago> This could be handled for civil/local time via an adjustment in the timezone definitions (something which happens a few times a year today), leaving the underlying UTC timebase unchanged. Like I said: it could become a huge coordination problem. * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar#Adoption_by_country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar#Adoption_by... * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoption_of_the_Gregorian_calendar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoption_of_the_Gregorian_cale...
- bewaretheirs 4y agoit's really just a tzdata update for the vast majority of computer systems. That package updates several times a year. Get the revised rule in there a decade in advance and you're golden.
- throw0101a 4y ago> it's really just a tzdata update for the vast majority of computer systems. I don't think you understand how the tzdata works: the tzdata folks only update the contents after the civil authority for a region changes the law. So first you have to get all the law makers to update what the legal statues say and then you "just" update the computer systems. The latter is the 'easy' part, it's the former that's the coordination problem. And as someone who was around for the 2005 DST change, I can say that may also be quite the coordination problem. (Though I think code has gotten much better since then.)
- Epa095 4y ago
- wbl 4y agoAnd we finished that transition in 1917. Time is hard.