Latest news with #TimeAndDate
NDTV
23-07-2025
- Science
- NDTV
Earth Is Spinning Faster, Says Study. This Could Force A Global Time Reset
In a rare and unprecedented move, scientists and world timekeepers are considering reducing one second from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) as Earth's rotation speeds up. The most recent data indicates that Earth's rotation is somewhat faster this summer, with some days measuring more than a millisecond shorter than a typical 24-hour period, CNN reported. Even the slightest change in the planet's rotation over time can cause sensitive systems, such as satellites, GPS, and international communications networks, to malfunction. This hypothetical "negative leap second" will be the first in history. The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service and the US Naval Observatory declared that July 10 was the shortest day of the year so far, lasting 1.36 milliseconds less than 24 hours, as per Time And Date. Earth's rotation has been progressively slowing down for decades as a result of the moon's tidal friction. Recent astronomical data and atomic clock observations, however, indicate that the Earth is currently spinning faster than it did previously. The earth takes 24 hours, or an average of 86,400 seconds, to complete one full rotation on its axis, which is equivalent to a day. In reality, however, each rotation is somewhat erratic because of several variables, including the moon's gravitational pull and the impact of the Earth's liquid core. What is the concern now? The official timekeepers in the world may have to take an unprecedented step if this pace keeps up; deduct one complete second from the world time. Since 1972, so-called "leap seconds" have been added 27 times to compensate for Earth's rather erratic rotation. However, there has never been the use of a negative "leap second," which will essentially accelerate the UTC by one second. There is now a 40 per cent likelihood that it will occur by 2035, according to experts. Why is the Earth spinning faster? The causes of Earth's fluctuating rotation are multifaceted. Seasonal fluctuations in the atmosphere, the moon's gravitational influence, and even the shifting motion of the Earth's molten core all contribute. The moon and tides cause the shortest-term variations in Earth's rotation, according to experts, making it spin faster when the satellite is at higher or lower altitudes and slower when it is above the equator. Another factor is climate change. Greenland and Antarctica's melting ice redistributes mass around the Earth, slowing its rotation and possibly preserving time before a global time reset becomes inevitable. Research geophysicist Duncan Agnew of the University of California, San Diego, compared it to observing the stock market, and said, "There are long-term trends, and then there are peaks and falls."
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Is Earth's rotation speeding up? Why this July day may be shortest so far in 2025
Does it feel like there's not enough time in the day for everything? Well, that could be because some upcoming days are actually getting shorter. In fact, today might just be the shortest day you'll ever experience. Ok, maybe it won't be short enough for anyone to actually notice, but every millisecond counts, right? As much as a millisecond or more could be shaved off the clock on Wednesday, July 9, on account of how the moon's position relative to Earth is influencing our planet's rotation. Here's what to know about why Earth's rotation is speeding up, and how it will shorten three days this summer. Is Earth's rotation speeding up? Earth takes 24 hours to complete a full rotation in a standard day, equal to exactly 86,400 seconds. If a standard day is shortened or lengthened by a number of milliseconds, that added or detracted time is referred to as "length of day," according to the website TimeAndDate. Until 2020, the shortest "length of day" ever recorded by atomic clocks was -1.05 ms, meaning that Earth completed one daily rotation in 1.05 milliseconds less than 86,400 seconds. "Since then, however, Earth has managed to shatter this old record every year by around half a millisecond," astrophysicist Graham Jones wrote for TimeAndDate. That culminated on July 5, 2023 with the shortest day of all time, with a "length of day" of -1.66 ms, according to Jones. While the variations are expected, recent research suggests that human activity is also contributing to Earth's changing rotation. Researchers at NASA calculated that dwindling ice and groundwater and rising seas has actually increased the length of our days since 2000 by 1.33 milliseconds per century. Will the Earth spin faster July 9? Is July 9 the shortest day? Scientists anticipate that Earth's rotation will quicken enough to create three shorter days between July and August. The first is Wednesday, July 9, which will have a predicted -1.30 ms "length of day," according to TimeAndDate. The next two shortened days, though, will be be even more truncated. Scientists predicted a -1.38 ms "length of day" July 22, and a -1.51 ms "length of day" Aug. 5. On these days, the moon will be at its furthest from the Earth's equator, changing its gravitational pull and causing our planet to spin just a tiny bit faster on its axis, according to science news website LiveScience. Will the sped-up day be noticeable? Of course, you're unlikely to notice such a miniscule difference in your standard 24-hour day. But scientists who track and operate atomic clocks may be facing a bit of a predicament. First introduced in the 1950s, atomic clocks replaced how scientists previously measured the length of a day by tracking the Earth's rotation and position of the sun. The clocks are also capable of measuring in billionths of a second, or nanoseconds, which are synchronized globally to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC.) If the clocks are thrown off even a tiny amount, it could also throw off computers, servers, GPS signals and other networks that rely on accurate times, David Gozzard, an experimental physicis at the University of Western Australia, told the Guardian. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is Earth spinning faster? July 9, 2 other days may be shortest of 2025 Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Is Earth's rotation speeding up? July 22 will be second shortest day in history
Earlier this month, the Earth spun just a bit faster than usual on July 9 and is expected to do so again on July 22 and Aug. 5, according to the website TimeAndDate. Over a millisecond was reportedly shaved off the clock on July 9, but the shortest day out of all three predicted will be in August. This shortening is due to the moon's position relative to Earth and its influence on the planet's rotation. Here's what to know about why Earth's rotation is speeding up, and how it is shortening three days this summer. Is Earth's rotation speeding up? Earth takes 24 hours to complete a full rotation in a standard day, equal to exactly 86,400 seconds. If a standard day is shortened or lengthened by a number of milliseconds, that added or detracted time is referred to as "length of day," according to the website TimeAndDate. Until 2020, the shortest "length of day" ever recorded by atomic clocks was -1.05 ms, meaning that Earth completed one daily rotation in 1.05 milliseconds less than 86,400 seconds. "Since then, however, Earth has managed to shatter this old record every year by around half a millisecond," astrophysicist Graham Jones wrote for TimeAndDate. That culminated on July 5, 2023, with the shortest day of all time, with a "length of day" of -1.66 ms, according to Jones. While the variations are expected, recent research suggests that human activity is also contributing to Earth's changing rotation. Researchers at NASA calculated that dwindling ice and groundwater and rising seas have actually increased the length of our days since 2000 by 1.33 milliseconds per century . A photo of Earth rising over the moon's horizon taken in 1968 by astronaut Bill Anders How short will the day be on July 22 On July 22, scientists predicted a -1.38 ms "length of day." This is a little bit faster than July 9, , which had about a -1.30 ms "length of day," according to TimeAndDate. August 5 is expected to the most truncated at -1.51 ms "length of day." On these days, the moon will be at its furthest from the Earth's equator, changing its gravitational pull and causing our planet to spin just a tiny bit faster on its axis, according to science news website LiveScience. Will the sped-up day be noticeable? Of course, you're unlikely to notice such a minuscule difference in your standard 24-hour day. But scientists who track and operate atomic clocks may be facing a bit of a predicament. First introduced in the 1950s, atomic clocks replaced how scientists previously measured the length of a day by tracking the Earth's rotation and the position of the sun. The clocks are also capable of measuring in billionths of a second, or nanoseconds, which are synchronized globally to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC.) If the clocks are thrown off even a tiny amount, it could also throw off computers, servers, GPS signals, and other networks that rely on accurate times, David Gozzard, an experimental physicist at the University of Western Australia, told the Guardian. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Earth will spin faster today, creating second shortest day in history
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Is Earth's rotation speeding up? Why these 3 summer days may be shorter than usual
Earth spun just a bit faster than usual on July 9 and is expected to do so again on July 22 and Aug. 5, according to the website TimeAndDate. Over a millisecond was reportedly shaved off the clock on Wednesday, but the shortest day out of all three predicted will be in August. This shortening is due to the moon's position relative to Earth and its influence on the planet's rotation. Here's what to know about why Earth's rotation is speeding up, and how it is shortening three days this summer. Earth takes 24 hours to complete a full rotation in a standard day, equal to exactly 86,400 seconds. If a standard day is shortened or lengthened by a number of milliseconds, that added or detracted time is referred to as "length of day," according to the website TimeAndDate. Until 2020, the shortest "length of day" ever recorded by atomic clocks was -1.05 ms, meaning that Earth completed one daily rotation in 1.05 milliseconds less than 86,400 seconds. "Since then, however, Earth has managed to shatter this old record every year by around half a millisecond," astrophysicist Graham Jones wrote for TimeAndDate. That culminated on July 5, 2023, with the shortest day of all time, with a "length of day" of -1.66 ms, according to Jones. While the variations are expected, recent research suggests that human activity is also contributing to Earth's changing rotation. Researchers at NASA calculated that dwindling ice and groundwater and rising seas have actually increased the length of our days since 2000 by 1.33 milliseconds per century. Scientists have anticipated that Earth's rotation will quicken enough to create three shorter days between July and August. The first was Wednesday, July 9, which had about a -1.30 ms "length of day," according to TimeAndDate. The next two shortened days, though, will be even more truncated. Scientists predicted a -1.38 ms "length of day" July 22, and a -1.51 ms "length of day" Aug. 5. On these days, the moon will be at its furthest from the Earth's equator, changing its gravitational pull and causing our planet to spin just a tiny bit faster on its axis, according to science news website LiveScience. Of course, you're unlikely to notice such a minuscule difference in your standard 24-hour day. But scientists who track and operate atomic clocks may be facing a bit of a predicament. First introduced in the 1950s, atomic clocks replaced how scientists previously measured the length of a day by tracking the Earth's rotation and the position of the sun. The clocks are also capable of measuring in billionths of a second, or nanoseconds, which are synchronized globally to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC.) If the clocks are thrown off even a tiny amount, it could also throw off computers, servers, GPS signals, and other networks that rely on accurate times, David Gozzard, an experimental physicist at the University of Western Australia, told the Guardian. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Earth's rotation speed: These 3 summer days may be shorter than usual
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Why July 9 will likely be one of the shortest days in recorded history
The Brief July 9 is expected to be one of the shortest days in history, but you won't notice a difference. The Earth has been moving faster in recent years, and scientists aren't exactly sure why. Today could be the shortest day you've ever experienced – but it'll happen faster than the blink of an eye. Thanks to the moon's distance from the equator, July 9 could be as much as 1.30 milliseconds – or more – shorter than the usual 86,400 seconds, or 24 hours, in a day. By the numbers There are 86,400 seconds in a day (24 hours), "give or take a millisecond or so," astrophysicist Graham Jones wrote for TimeAndDate. That's how long it takes for Earth to make one full rotation on its axis. A millisecond is one-thousandth of a second. For context, the blink of an eye usually takes about 100 milliseconds. Jones says there's only one way to measure the millisecond variations for Earth's axis: atomic clocks. The number of milliseconds above or below 86,400 seconds is known as length of day (LOD). The backstory Since the dawn of time, Earth has been gradually rotating slower, which makes our days longer. According to LiveScience, 1 to 2 billion years ago, a day on Earth was 19 hours long. Before 2020, the shortest length of day variation measured by an atomic clock was -1.05 milliseconds – meaning the Earth rotated 1.05 milliseconds faster than 86,400 seconds. RELATED: See our neighboring Andromeda Galaxy in a whole new light Earth's been moving faster ever since. So far, the shortest day ever recorded was July 5, 2024, when Earth rotated 1.66 milliseconds faster than usual. This year, scientists predict three shorter days in July and August. On July 9, the day is expected to be 1.30 milliseconds shorter, followed by an even shorter -1.38 milliseconds on July 22 and a -1.51 milliseconds on Aug. 5. Dig deeper According to LiveScience, for those three days in July and August, the moon will be at its farthest distance from the equator. That changes the gravitational pull of Earth's axis. What they're saying "Think of the Earth as a spinning top — if you were to put your fingers around the middle and spin, it wouldn't rotate as quickly as if you were to hold it from the top and bottom," science writer Amy Arthur explained in LiveScience. Still, scientists are baffled as to why Earth has been accelerating in recent years. How fast Earth spins is dependent on a number of factors, including the motion of Earth's core, oceans and the atmosphere, TimeAndDate reports. Why you should care According to The Guardian, computers, servers, GPS systems, banking and utility networks all rely on extremely synchronized clocks. If the clocks are off by even a fraction of a billionth of a second, it could affect those systems. The Source This report includes information from TimeAndDate, LiveScience and The Guardian.
