World Timekeepers Vote to End Leap Seconds
Leah and Sam explain why representatives from 69 countries voted in France on Thursday to stop adding leap seconds to the world's official clocks starting in May 2027, keeping global time continuous so a recent speedup in Earth's spin does not force a risky 59-second minute on computer networks.
Show notes
In this episode
- 0:01 Opening
- 0:15 World timekeepers vote to end leap seconds
- 4:39 Recap and outro
Sources and context
- World timekeepers vote to end leap seconds: International Bureau of Weights and Measures — Resolution 5 of the 28th General Conference on Weights and Measures on continuous UTC and UK National Physical Laboratory — statement on the vote to end leap seconds and The Guardian — why an accelerating Earth led timekeepers to adopt the one-hour limit and Scientific American — how ending leap seconds redefines global timekeeping
