Monday, June 29, 2015

What Should You Do With Your Leap Second?

On June 30 2015 the day will be a second longer than normal. Make the most of it!

A leap second will be added to clocks on June 30.

A leap second will be added to clocks on June 30.

We have to add a leap second every now and again in order to synchronise atomic clocks with astronomical time. That's because Earth's rotation is slowing down. Don't worry though, it's happening verrrrrrrrrrry slooooooowwwwly – we've only had to add 25 leap seconds since 1974.

They work the same way as the extra day does in a leap year. This next one will be the 26th leap second, and it gets added at 23:59:60 UTC.

Comstock Images / Getty Images

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