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Vote To Eliminate Leap Seconds

Posted by kdawson on from the making-y2k-look-like-a-walk-in-the-park dept.

Mortimer.CA writes "As discussed on Slashdot previously, there is a proposal to remove leap seconds from UTC (nee 'Greenwich' time). It will be put to a vote to ITU member states during 2008, and if 70% agree, the leap second will be eliminated by 2013. There is some debate as to whether this change is a good or bad idea. The proposal calls for a 'leap-hour' in about 600 years, which nobody seems to believe is a good idea. One philosophical point opponents make is that the 'official' time on Earth should match the time of the sun and heavens."

4 of 531 comments (clear)

  1. A 'leap-hour' in about 600 years by niceone · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yeah, because the best way to to deal with a small problem is to put it off until it becomes a really big problem.

    --
    ccalam - acoustic versions of new songs.
  2. Please take some care with editing... by Mantle · · Score: 5, Insightful
    ... which nobody seems to believe is a good idea.



    Um... isn't the whole point of this article that some people think it's a good idea? TFS even says there is debate over whether it is a good or bad idea!

  3. Re:Yup. by arth1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It gets worse than that, even.

    What is a year?

    Is it the time from perihelion to the next perihelion?
    Is it the time from zenith on the shortest day to zenith on the shortest day next year?
    Is it the time for when a star within our galaxy is in the same position again?
    Is it the time for when a star outside our galaxy is in the same position again?

    The earth's orbit rotates, and the solar system rotates, in a galaxy that rotates. And speculation is that the universe rotates too.

  4. Simple and accurate solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Run computers on TAI (International Atomic Time). Keep it constantly flowing, and never add or remove seconds, as per the definition. Then simply calculate UTC in software from a published leap offset between the two, which compensates for the leap seconds:

    UTC = TAI - leapseconds

    Then define all the timezones off of UTC as normal. All this basically does, is make the calculations for the timezones into a few hours plus or minus a few seconds. This makes a lot more sense, because then you actually have a fundamental time (TAI) which doesn't have discontinuities, but if you want to consider your astronomical orientation, you look at UTC or your local time. We don't need to redefine these types of time, because these already exist. We just need to use them more intelligently.