2005 to be 31536001 seconds long. Stop them messing with Time!
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Monday December 26, 2005 18:45
by o as if
before its too late.
Time is very special, and no-one really knows who owns it. One thing is clear - we don't. But over the millenia we have seen the state or church whichever was more powerful at that particular time meddle with both calenders and hours.
On the 31st of December 2005, an extra second will be added to the world's clocks meaning the year will last 31536001 seconds rather than the usual 3156000.
The decision has been made by the US naval observatory and is part of an ongoing established practise of introducing "leap seconds" which was agreed at the creation of "Coordinated Universal Time" in 1958 and the increasing popularity of Atomic clocks.
This year's leap second will be the 23rd since the International time keeping agreement was signed.
of August to be precise.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/25/AR2005122500496.html
CONTROVERSIAL
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=84698
Though that depends on whose article you read.
Some wikipedians reckon that a leap second has been squeezed into every year since 1972.
http://www.answers.com/topic/universal-time
sometimes they slipped in the extra second at the end of June instead of December.
http://columbia.thefreedictionary.com/universal+time
SINISTER
http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/office/given/timekeeping.html
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/
www.thetimenow.com/worldclock.php -more accessible version for sight impaired.
CONSPIRACY
In many countries the poor and simple mark the New Year by celebrating popular festive occasions ignoring the state medium of television. The extra second will effect their brains and computers. Kiritimati on the Christmas Islands, in Kiribati enters 2006 first. Will these people be properly advised in time?
The last link is for nerds who want to see the countdown to 2006 second by second on their computer screens. But Don't Panic : Just remember its not y2k. :-)