3 ms·
Definitely do not redefine the second. So many of our scientific units are based on the definition of a "second" as we see it on Earth, you'd throw everything i
by amysox 4y ago
Definitely do not redefine the second. So many of our scientific units are based on the definition of a "second" as we see it on Earth, you'd throw everything into chaos. I believe one of the characters in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress pointed this out, as the newly-empowered Lunar government was considering redefining time to match the lunar day/night cycle.
(In that book, they certainly recognized "semi-lunars" reflecting the lunar day and night cycle, but, since Loonies, by and large, lived in pressure domes or underground, those didn't matter unless you were actually going to the surface. It definitely affected when people went out on the surface, why they went, and--because of the solar radiation hazard during bright semi-lunar--how long they stayed out.)
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- dekhn 4y agoSeconds are now defined on atomic transitions, which can be measured at the moon and used to form a base clock that other clocks sync to, although I'm pretty certain loonies would instead use an earth seconds-based clock with corrections, periodically ensuring that they stayed in sync.