Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:22a.m.
Scientists at the Royal Society are discussing
the possible need to come up with a new definition of the world's time
scale, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), according to BBC News.
The main issue is whether or not to abolish the leap second. It was added to keep the time-scale based on atomic clocks in phase with the time-scale that is based on the Earth's rotation.
While atomic clocks are very accurate, the Earth has a slight wobble as it spins on its axis. As such, there are slight variations that cause the two sets of time drift further out of sync over time.
The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in Paris thinks that the leap second should go – it is the international standards organisation that responsible for maintaining the world's time. It believes the adjustments are becoming increasingly problematic for systems that need a stable and continuous reference time-scale.
However, a rift within the international time community has arisen over the call to get rid of the leap second. It will come to a head at a vote at the World Radio Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in January 2012 in Geneva.
3 News
The main issue is whether or not to abolish the leap second. It was added to keep the time-scale based on atomic clocks in phase with the time-scale that is based on the Earth's rotation.
While atomic clocks are very accurate, the Earth has a slight wobble as it spins on its axis. As such, there are slight variations that cause the two sets of time drift further out of sync over time.
The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in Paris thinks that the leap second should go – it is the international standards organisation that responsible for maintaining the world's time. It believes the adjustments are becoming increasingly problematic for systems that need a stable and continuous reference time-scale.
However, a rift within the international time community has arisen over the call to get rid of the leap second. It will come to a head at a vote at the World Radio Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in January 2012 in Geneva.
3 News
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