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No More Leap Second?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the only-a-matter-of-time dept.

WerewulfX writes "CNN reports: "In a phenomenon that has scientists puzzled, the Earth is right on schedule for a fifth straight year." Update yeah, this is a repost. Whatever- it's a holiday. Nothing else to post :)

2 of 295 comments (clear)

  1. Rotational Kinetic Energy II by Michael.Forman · · Score: 4, Interesting


    If the Earth is assumed to be a homogeneous sphere and the rotational axis is assumed to be the straight line passing through the north and south geographic poles, the moment of inertia of the Earth is I = MR^2 where M is the total mass of the Earth and R is its radius. The kinetic energy of a rotating Earth is given by K = 1/2 I w^2, where w is the angular velocity.

    The energy associated with an angular velocity which is increased by 1 second over a year is equivalent to an extra 1.6e22 Joules of energy or 40 times the annual energy consumption of mankind (DoE 1999). A detailed analysis and matlab script are available here

    Yeah, this is a rereply. Whatever. It's a holiday. Nothing else to reply to. :)

    Michael.

    --
    Linux : Mac :: VW : Mercedes
  2. As bad as being born on 30th Feb 1712 by pflodo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    When (greater) Sweden was going to change from Julian to Gregorian calendar they stuffed it up, got one day out of sync with all Julian countries, so to get back in sync they added an extra leap day, creating the only 30th Feb in history.

    They eventually made the change from Julian in 1753 by having (gregorian) 1st Mar 1753 after (julian) 17 Feb 1753 removing ten days.

    Makes a leap second seem a bit insignificant....

    If you have no idea about Julian (as in Ceasar) and Gregorian (as in pope) calendars, have a look here