📖 what
What is a leap second?
timescience
Quick Answer
A leap second is an extra second occasionally added to clocks to keep atomic time in line with Earth’s rotation.
The Full Story
Atomic clocks keep extremely steady time, but Earth’s rotation varies slightly and is gradually slowing over the long term due to tidal friction. To keep Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) within 0.9 seconds of solar time, scientists introduced leap seconds in 1972. Since then, 27 leap seconds have been added, the last on 31 December 2016, when clocks read 23:59:60. Leap seconds cause headaches for computer systems, and some websites have crashed because of them. In 2022, international timekeepers voted to stop adding leap seconds by 2035.
Key Facts
1.Introduced in 1972
2.27 leap seconds have been added
3.Planned to be discontinued by 2035
YouTube Angle
Suggested video title for this topic:
"The extra second that crashes computers"