(Image source: Pixabay/SplitShire)
Not only those who have their birthday on February 29 will be familiar with the leap year that occurs every four years. And what it is all about should probably be known to the vast majority of people. But what about the leap second? Have you ever heard of this?
One second doesn’t sound like much, but that brief moment has been a headache for computer scientists and the tech world at large for decades. And it costs money.
In 2012, for example, there were massive failures at a number of companies, including Reddit, Mozilla, LinkedIn, Yelp and the flight booking service Amadeus. Linux-based servers were also affected. All of our electronics depend on time being accurately synchronized to within a fraction of a second everywhere. It is particularly important for logistical processes that everything fits together.
Because even if only individual systems step out of line, this quickly has a global impact. Business failures and costly repairs can result in costs running into the millions.
Puzzling question of time
This watch can make you despair
Much to everyone’s relief, the end of the leap second has now been decided. How one wants to solve the problem with the calculation of time instead is still in the stars, like that New York Times reported. First of all, there is a kind of temporary solution. But first things first:
What is a leap second?
Our calendar is designed to revolve around the sun. One revolution corresponds to one year, or to put it another way: 365 days. However, the earth needs a little more than 365 days on its solar orbit. 365.24219 days to be precise. For the sake of simplicity, the Julian calendar calculates with 365.25 days, which is why a 366th day (February 29) was introduced every four years.
To make up for the error still there, which amounts to one full day every 138 years, Pope Gregory XIII. in the 16th century, with the Gregorian calendar named after him, introduced a leap day that is repeated every 400 years.
A leap second is basically the same as a leap year. The only difference here is that it is not the orbit of the sun that serves as the basis, but the rotation of the earth around its own axis. A full rotation corresponds to 24 hours or 86,400 seconds. In fact, however, a day lasts a fraction of a second longer, which is why a leap second was first introduced in 1972 to correct this error.
In addition, the rotation speed of the earth is subject to fluctuations and even slows down in the long term. This is the reason why the leap second is inserted irregularly.
This irregularity is a major problem for IT because it is almost impossible to synchronize all systems without errors. The following article also shows how large the fluctuations in the earth’s rotation are:
Mysterious Earth Speed Record
Shortest day since recording began
The end of the leap second
However, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) has now decided to abolish the leap second. After 2035, there should no longer be any irregular switching. Coordinated universal time will therefore no longer be interrupted by a leap second, at least until the year 2135.
A leap minute could then be inserted, but that is not certain yet. The BIPM also gave science the task of finding a better solution.
Incidentally, the leap second has not yet been completely abolished. For the sake of completeness, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) must also agree to the decision. That should happen in the coming year, but is practically a given.
