Latest news with #Planet
BBC News
9 hours ago
- Health
- BBC News
Inside BBC Verify - Satellite view of Cyprus fires and analysing doctors' pay row
Update: Date: 10:25 BST Title: Cyprus wildfires visible from space Content: Paul BrownBBC Verify senior journalist Satellite imagery taken yesterday over Cyprus has offered us our first aerial glimpse of wildfires in the south which killed two people. In low-resolution imagery provided by Planet, smoke can be seen rising from at least three spots in a mountainous area of the Limassol district. Planet routinely provides this kind of image quality, which allow us to monitor large-scale incidents like wildfires. While it's not detailed enough to examine close-up damage or individual structures, it does allow us to monitor broader changes over time. Higher-resolution imagery is also released but not as often. A spokesman for the fire service posted on X yesterday that there were "no active fronts" in the fire but intense "flare-ups" continued in the area, with inland temperatures forecast to hit 44 degrees. Photographs from the ground also show burned out buildings and charred land in the affected areas. The UK Foreign Office has advised tourists due to travel to Limassol or Paphos districts to ensure they have suitable insurance and contact their travel operators for advice. Update: Date: 09:45 BST Title: Good morning Content: Matt MurphyBBC Verify senior journalist Thanks for joining us at BBC Verify Live, its a busy morning here at our London newsroom. Our fact-checkers, verification experts and data journalists are looking at a wide variety of stories. Authorities in Cyprus continued to fight fires on Thursday which have so far ravaged 100 sq km (40 sq m) of land and killed several people. We've been examining the latest satellite imagery from the island. Last night President Emmanuel Macron announced that France will recognise Palestinian statehood at the UN. We will look at what that means, and how many other countries have already done so. And our policy and analysis correspondent Ben Chu has been looking at the claims from the British Medical Association (BMA), which has vowed to push ahead with strike action over resident doctors' pay.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
July 22 will be the second-shortest day of the year, scientists say
Tuesday, July 22 will be the second-shortest day of the year, as Earth completes a full rotation in less time than usual. The planet on Tuesday will experience a shorter rotation than the typical 24 hours, though not by much: 1.34 milliseconds less than usual, according to MORE: Climate change is altering the length of days on Earth, according to new research Typically, we think of the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere as Dec. 21 or 22, which coincides with the winter solstice – July 21 or 22 in the Southern Hemisphere – which is the point at which the hemisphere is tilted farthest away from the sun. In those instances, however, it's only the number of hours of daylight that are affected, and not the length of time it takes for the Earth to make a full rotation on its axis. The 1.34-millisecond discrepancy in Tuesday's length is explained by differences in the gravitational pull between the Earth and the moon, which causes the Earth to spin more quickly, according to the Lunar and Planetary Institute. In recent years, Earth has broken its own speed records several times, including on July 5, 2024 – the shortest day ever measured, when the planet's full rotation was completed 1.66 milliseconds faster than usual, according to PHOTO: Spinning Globe This year, July 10 was measured as the shortest day of the year, with a full rotation occurring 1.36 milliseconds faster than normal. Aug. 5 is expected to be the third-shortest day of the year, projected to be 1.25 milliseconds shorter than usual. Earth completes one full rotation on its axis in 24 hours, or about 86,400 seconds, plus or minus a millisecond or so, according to Before 2020, Earth's shortest length of day was just 1.05 milliseconds shorter than usual. MORE: What to know about the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year If current trends continue, a full second may need to be subtracted from atomic clocks in the near future to accommodate for a "negative leap second," according to The system of leap seconds was introduced in the 1970s, according to Time and Date. While there have been dozens of positive leap seconds, in which a second was added, there has never been a negative leap second. The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, which monitor's the Earth's rotation, also determines whether to add or subtract a second. In its early days – about 4.5 billion years ago – Earth was spinning at a much faster rate, according to the Lunar and Planetary Institute. A full rotation only lasted between three and six hours. MORE: Melting polar ice is changing the Earth's rotation and affecting how we measure time: Study During the mid-Proterozoic period – between 2.5 billion years ago and 543 million years ago – the Earth had slowed such that a day lasted about 19 hours, according to a 2023 study published in Nature Geoscience. Since then, the length of an Earth day has slowed to its present 24 hours due to the fact that the moon's gravitational pull "steals" some of energy Earth uses to spin, in addition to causing tidal friction, according to the Institute. Additionally, climate change is causing days on Earth to become longer due to the melting of ice at the poles, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. As the poles melt, the redistribution of mass from the resulting sea-level rise also is increasing the length of a day, the researchers found.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Science
- Daily Mail
Shortest day in history set for tomorrow
Scientists have announced that tomorrow could be the shortest day of your life, breaking a mark that was just set two weeks ago. That's because Earth's rotation has continued to pick up speed, and is expected to spin even faster than it did on July 9 , when everyone on the plant experienced a day that was 1.3 milliseconds shorter than normal. New data has revealed that the Earth appeared to have spun even faster a day later on July 10 , making the day 1.36 milliseconds shorter than usual. A millisecond equals one thousandth of a second, which is so impossibly difficult to measure that takes an atomic clock to track the numbers, measuring what's called 'Length of Day,' or LOD. LOD marks the time it takes Earth to rotate once, down to the millisecond. Normally, that process takes exactly 86,400 seconds, or 24 hours, to complete. However, Earth's rotation has been speeding up in recent years. While the cause is still a mystery, new research from NASA has suggested it may be connected to the moon's gravitational pull. The major uptick in speed this summer has led to the possibility that scientists will have to add a negative leap second to the calendar by 2029, meaning one second will be taken away from our clocks to keep them in sync. While the tiny change may seem insignificant, researchers have found that the shorter day can affect everything from satellite systems and GPS accuracy to how we measure time itself. Earth's rotation is affected by a number of different factors, both on the planet and out in space. Some of the potential reasons include changes in the atmosphere, the melting of glaciers worldwide shifting water volume, a change in motion inside the Earth's metal core, and a weakening magnetic field. NASA researchers have also suggested that this year's acceleration is actually a result of Earth hitting the moon's 'orbital sweet spot,' causing the planet to receive a tiny speed boost. Before this recent acceleration in Earth's spin, the planet was actually slowing down, due to the moon's gravitational pull, which has been stretching our days into the 24-hour cycle we now live by in modern times. Geoscientist Stephen Meyers, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, found that as the moon moves further away , its changing gravitational impact on Earth would slowly make days incrementally longer. However, scientists recently observed variations in the planet's rotation, causing the planet to speed up in 2020, 2022, and 2024. On July 9 and now again on July 22, the moon will be at its furthest point from Earth's equator, which alters its gravitational pull on our planet's axis. In simpler terms, the moon has been spinning the Earth like a top, holding on to the planet at the midpoint, which is usually closer to the moon than the north or south poles. On July 22, and again on August 5, the moon's gravity will exert more of a pull on the Earth's poles, essentially spinning our planet at its top, which naturally makes it rotate faster. The fastest day recorded so far was just over one year ago on July 5, 2024, when Earth spun 1.66 milliseconds faster than the standard 24 hours. Although scientists have been recording Earth's rotation since the 1970s, they only started noticing record-breaking changes on a regular basis in 2020. That year, July 19 came in 1.47 milliseconds short. On July 9, 2021, there was another 1.47 millisecond drop. In 2022, Earth recorded its shortest day on June 30, shaving off 1.59 milliseconds from the usual 24 hours. In 2023, the planet's rotation slowed again, and no new records were set. In 2024, however, the speed picked up. Several days broke the previous records, making it the year with the most consistently shorter days on record. These estimates are based on past observations and computer models, and include systematic corrections and smoothing to account for natural fluctuations. Right now, the world has kept time using Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC. Sometimes we've added a leap second to stay in sync with Earth's slow shifts. Due to these ongoing spikes in our rotation, however, the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) has already announced that no leap second will be added in 2025.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Earth will spin faster on July 22 to create 2nd-shortest day in history
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Earth will complete a full rotation in slightly less time than usual on Tuesday, July 22, making it one of the shortest days ever recorded. The difference will be just 1.34 milliseconds less than the standard 24 hours — not something you'll notice — but it's part of a puzzling trend in Earth's rotational behavior that has been unfolding in recent years. If it continues, a second may need to be subtracted from atomic clocks around 2029 — a so-called negative leap second, which has never been done before. The speed of Earth's rotation isn't fixed. Long ago, a day was much shorter than the 24 hours — or 86,400 seconds — we're now accustomed to. According to a 2023 study, a day on Earth was approximately 19 hours for a significant part of Earth's early history, due to a balance between solar atmospheric tides and lunar ocean tides. However, over deep time, a day on Earth has become consistently longer. The primary culprit has been tidal friction from the moon, which has caused it to gradually move farther away from Earth. As it moves away, the moon saps Earth's rotational energy, causing Earth's rotation to slow and days to lengthen. So why the sudden reverse? From when records began (with the invention of the atomic clock) in 1973 until 2020, the shortest day ever recorded was 1.05 milliseconds less than 24 hours, according to But since 2020, Earth has repeatedly broken its own speed records. The shortest day ever measured occurred on July 5, 2024, when Earth's rotation was completed 1.66 milliseconds faster than usual. Looking ahead to 2025, scientists predicted that July 9, July 22, and Aug. 5 could be the shortest days of the year. However, new data suggests that July 10 took the lead as the shortest day so far in 2025, clocking in at 1.36 milliseconds less than 24 hours. On July 22, Earth is expected to complete its spin 1.34 milliseconds early, making it a close runner-up. If current predictions hold, Aug. 5 will be about 1.25 milliseconds shorter than usual, leaving July 22 as the second-shortest day of the year. There are signs the acceleration may be easing. The rate of decrease in day length appears to be slowing, but the underlying cause of the recent rotational changes remains elusive. One 2024 study suggested that the melting polar ice and rising sea levels may be influencing Earth's spin. However, rather than driving the acceleration, this redistribution of mass might be moderating it. A more likely culprit is deep below our feet — the slowing of Earth's liquid core, which could be redistributing angular momentum in a way that makes the mantle and crust spin slightly faster. "The cause of this acceleration is not explained," Leonid Zotov, a leading authority on Earth rotation at Moscow State University, told "Most scientists believe it is something inside the Earth. Ocean and atmospheric models don't explain this huge acceleration." Zotov predicts Earth's rotation may soon decelerate once again. If he's right, this sudden speeding-up could prove to be just a temporary anomaly in the planet's long-term trend toward slower rotation and longer days.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Science
- Daily Mail
Shortest day in history set for TOMORROW as Earth's rotation mysteriously gets even faster
Scientists have announced that tomorrow could be the shortest day of your life, breaking a mark that was just set two weeks ago. That's because Earth's rotation has continued to pick up speed, and is expected to spin even faster than it did on July 9, when everyone on the plant experienced a day that was 1.3 milliseconds shorter than normal. New data has revealed that the Earth appeared to have spun even faster a day later on July 10, making the day 1.36 milliseconds shorter than usual. A millisecond equals one thousandth of a second, which is so impossibly difficult to measure that takes an atomic clock to track the numbers, measuring what's called 'Length of Day,' or LOD. LOD marks the time it takes Earth to rotate once, down to the millisecond. Normally, that process takes exactly 86,400 seconds, or 24 hours, to complete. However, Earth's rotation has been speeding up in recent years. While the cause is still a mystery, new research from NASA has suggested it may be connected to the moon's gravitational pull. The major uptick in speed this summer has led to the possibility that scientists will have to add a negative leap second to the calendar by 2029, meaning one second will be taken away from our clocks to keep them in sync. While the tiny change may seem insignificant, researchers have found that the shorter day can affect everything from satellite systems and GPS accuracy to how we measure time itself. Earth's rotation is affected by a number of different factors, both on the planet and out in space. Some of the potential reasons include changes in the atmosphere, the melting of glaciers worldwide shifting water volume, a change in motion inside the Earth's metal core, and a weakening magnetic field. NASA researchers have also suggested that this year's acceleration is actually a result of Earth hitting the moon's 'orbital sweet spot,' causing the planet to receive a tiny speed boost. Before this recent acceleration in Earth's spin, the planet was actually slowing down, due to the moon's gravitational pull, which has been stretching our days into the 24-hour cycle we now live by in modern times. Geoscientist Stephen Meyers, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, found that as the moon moves further away, its changing gravitational impact on Earth would slowly make days incrementally longer. However, scientists recently observed variations in the planet's rotation, causing the planet to speed up in 2020, 2022, and 2024. On July 9 and now again on July 22, the moon will be at its furthest point from Earth's equator, which alters its gravitational pull on our planet's axis. In simpler terms, the moon has been spinning the Earth like a top, holding on to the planet at the midpoint, which is usually closer to the moon than the north or south poles. On July 22, and again on August 5, the moon's gravity will exert more of a pull on the Earth's poles, essentially spinning our planet at its top, which naturally makes it rotate faster. The fastest day recorded so far was just over one year ago on July 5, 2024, when Earth spun 1.66 milliseconds faster than the standard 24 hours. Although scientists have been recording Earth's rotation since the 1970s, they only started noticing record-breaking changes on a regular basis in 2020. That year, July 19 came in 1.47 milliseconds short. On July 9, 2021, there was another 1.47 millisecond drop. In 2022, Earth recorded its shortest day on June 30, shaving off 1.59 milliseconds from the usual 24 hours. In 2023, the planet's rotation slowed again, and no new records were set. In 2024, however, the speed picked up. Several days broke the previous records, making it the year with the most consistently shorter days on record. These estimates are based on past observations and computer models, and include systematic corrections and smoothing to account for natural fluctuations. Right now, the world has kept time using Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC. Sometimes we've added a leap second to stay in sync with Earth's slow shifts. Due to these ongoing spikes in our rotation, however, the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) has already announced that no leap second will be added in 2025.
