Mark's Notebook


	Only a mediocre person is always at his best. - W. Somerset Maugham

2006 to be delayed a wee bit

CNN News

Friday 30 December 2005, 9:20 pm
Keywords: Computer Topics , News Articles

Get ready for a minute with 61 seconds. Scientists are delaying the start of 2006 by the first "leap second" since 1998.

The adjustment will be carried out by sticking an extra second into atomic clocks worldwide at the stroke of midnight Coordinated Universal Time, the widely adopted international standard, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology said this week.

"Enjoy New Year's Eve a second longer," the institute said in an explanatory notice. "You can toot your horn an extra second this year."

On the U.S. East Coast, the extra second occurs just before 7 p.m. on New Year's Eve. Atomic clocks at that moment will read 23:59:60 before rolling over to all zeros.

Deciding when to introduce a leap second is the responsibility of the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, a standards-setting body. Under an international pact, the preference for leap seconds is December 31 or June 30. The first leap second was added on June 30, 1972.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/25/leap.second.reut/