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I wish they hadn’t changed their name from the more evocative “International Earth Rotation Service”. It used to make me think, “What if we stopped paying them
by gumby 3y ago
I wish they hadn’t changed their name from the more evocative “International Earth Rotation Service”. It used to make me think, “What if we stopped paying them and they stopped cranking?”
More seriously though, it should remind us all of what a web of relationships and interdependence we have. Those clowns who blithely say “We should just fire half of the civil service” don’t even understand how things (barely) work. Its only thanks to the quiet efforts of others (in this case halfway around the world) we can do our own things.
- placesalt 3y ago> I wish they hadn’t changed their name from the more evocative “International Earth Rotation Service”. It used to make me think, “What if we stopped paying them and they stopped cranking?” They always had the single most impressive name for any organization, anywhere. It's a shame it changed. Edit: typo
- andyjohnson0 3y agoI always imagined them as some kind of ancient, secret order dedicated to ensuring that the earth continues to rotate - but also ruthlessly hunting down and destroying any evidence that it once didn't. Paging Dan Brown...
- lucas_membrane 3y agoI recall that the US NIST also had some office in Colorado called the Earth Rotation Service. Maybe you can still call them if there is any problem.