New Year 2006: someone decided it would be a great idea to add an extra second to the year 2005. Why would it be a great idea? Because astronomic time had begun to deviate from atomic time.
In 1958, the second was re-defined as the period it takes for 9,192,631,770 cycle states of Caesium 133 atoms (when excited in a magnetic field). It used to be 1/86400 of the time taken for an average planetary rotation… or an Earth day as we humans call it.
Now there is controversy – is it best to adjust atomic time (= Coordinated Universal Time) to match planetary motion or leave it and suffer the consequences of reprogramming all the time-locked gear like GPS? But adding a leap second upsets systems like power grids, financial systems and more.
I had the plasure of hearing Big Ben strike 12 and the crowd cheer in the New year one second before the on-screen clock hit midnight.
I make that People 1, Technology 0.
Read the full story at the St Paul Pioneer Press.
