daveza
Honorary Master
http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_2439600,00.html
Makes note to reset second hand on watch.
Washington - With a brutal economic slowdown, 2008 may feel as if it will never end. Now the world's timekeepers are making it even longer by adding a leap second to the last day of the year.
Along with the economy, the Earth itself is slowing down, requiring timekeepers to add an extra second to their atomic clocks to keep in sync with Earth's slightly slowing rotation.
So an extra second will be tacked on to December 31 after 18:59:59 and before 19:00 Eastern Standard Time.
That extra second will make 2008 - already long with an extra day on February 29 - the longest year since 1992.
The decision to add an extra second was made by an international consortium of timekeepers, whose American arm announced it on Monday.
Makes note to reset second hand on watch.