3 ms·

I assumed that leap seconds could be determined algorithmically, it appears I assumed badly. This is a bit of a can of worms...

• toast0 7mo ago
  They basically are, the algorithm is something like: At the beginning of january and july, observe the difference between UT1 and UTC. If the difference is >= 0.6s, a leap second will be inserted at the end of june/december. Publish the results here: https://hpiers.obspm.fr/eoppc/bul/bulc https://hpiers.obspm.fr/eoppc/bul/bulc
  • pocksuppet 7mo ago
    This is true. They look at how much the earth spun, and whether it was more or less than 86400 seconds/day average. This can't be done without external data. It's not a pure mathematical algorithm.
  • xg15 7mo ago
    Waiting until Trump discovers that the earth rotation service exists and forces them to insert a negative leap second just because he can.
    • jmusall 7mo ago
      Then, when the stock market crashes due to software failures and timing inconsistencies, he'll want to undo it and thereby cause even more chaos ;)
    • treis 7mo ago
      Oh thank God I thought I was going to make it through a thread on leap seconds without a political discussion
      • arduanika 7mo ago
        Is it that surprising? Elsewhere in the thread, people are discussing the best smear tactics!
      • xg15 7mo ago
        As those social justice groups like to say: "everything is political"...