By: Cathy Cai

Scientists have been left baffled after discovering the Earth is spinning faster than normal, making days shorter than usual. New measurements by the UK’s National Physical Laboratory show that the Earth is currently spinning faster than it was half a century ago! On June 29th, the Earth’s full rotation took 1.59 milliseconds which was less that 24 hours. The shortest day recorded. Scientists have said that if the rotation rate continues to speed up, we may need to remove a second from our clocks. “If Earth’s fast rotation continues, it could lead to the introduction of the first-ever negative leap second*,” astrophysicist Graham Jones reported to timeanddate.com. “A negative leap second would mean that our clocks skip one second, which could potentially create problems for IT systems.” he said

Researchers at tech company Meta said a leap second would have big effects on technology and become a “major source of pain” for hardware systems. Some experts believe the melting and refreezing of ice caps on the world’s tallest mountains could be contributing to the irregular speed. “Earth has recorded its shortest day since scientists began using atomic clocks to measure its rotational speed,” timeanddate.com reported. But Professor Zotov told timeanddate.com that there’s a “70 per cent chance” the planet has already reached the minimum length of a day, meaning we will likely never have to use a negative leap second.

The potential consequences of a negative leap second echo back to Y2K theories, where many believed computers would not be able to handle the clocks ticking over into the new millennium!

Article Link: Earth spinning faster than ever before _ KidsNews.pdf