Google creates a new unit of time so 2016 doesn’t break the Internet

Dec 23, 2016

The 'leap second' is officially a thing now.

Yep, because of the Earth's shifting rotation, 2016 is going to be one second longer this year in order to adjust with the planet.

However, the 'leap second' is apparently going to cause major confusion to computers, as of all things, they're not equipped to handle a 61-second minute.

And so, Goggle has decided to create a new unit of time, called 'smeared time', that will stretch out regular seconds to make them last longer.

The new measure will be applied to Google's Network Time Protocol, which will allow the tech giant to keep all machines using its servers to withstand the extra second.

Google said: "At the beginning of the leap second, smeared time will be just under 0.5s behind UTC.

"UTC will insert an additional second while smeared time continues uninterrupted, causing smeared time to become just under 0.5s ahead of UTC when the leap second ends."

So just as the clock strikes midnight, if you're not kissing someone, have a look because time keepers said we can expect the clocks to read 11:59:60 instead of 11:59:59.

Bet you didn’t know the clocks were going back tomorrow…

Lifestyle

Jun 29, 2015

by Amber Saunders

Tomorrow night the clocks will go back, but before you get all excited about the extra hour in bed, you may want to read on.

June 30th 2015 will have the unusual quirk of being 24 hours and one second long, with a "leap second" added just before midnight for scientific reasons.

International timekeepers have long used the leap second as a way of ensuring our clocks are in sync with the earth and sun. As the earth's rotation around the sun is gradually slowing down over time, the natural or "solar" day is lengthening each year.

So how do we make sure our clocks don't get faster than the earth's own natural timekeeping? By adding on an extra second every few years. If this didn't happen, timekeepers estimate that by the year 2100 our clocks would be two minutes fast, and eventually this could turn into hours or even days.

While for most of us the extra second won't matter too much, traders and technology companies are getting a little freaked out. During the last leap second in June 2012, a number of websites including LinkedIn and Reddit crashed as their servers failed to cope with the extra second added between 23:59 and 00:00.

This will also be the first time in years that the leap second has been added while US stock markets are still open for trading, with many stockbrokers worrying that the extra second could end up costing them millions of dollars if their systems shut down.

So what will you use tomorrow's extra second for? We have a few suggestions…

Wink at that cutie sitting across from you on the bus: