[ntp:questions] A Suggestion For Abolishing the Leap Second

Rob van der Putten rob at sput.nl
Wed Jun 6 11:46:12 UTC 2007


Hi there


jlevine wrote:

<Cut>

>    Yes, this idea was proposed some time ago, and it is currently
> being
> pushed pretty hard by the folks who need to plan for going to Mars.
> Some
> version of this idea will probably be adopted if/when space travel
> becomes
> more common. However, the idea that the rotating geoid (which is the
> basis for the current SI defintion) is the center of the universe will
> not
> be easy to overcome.

I was at high school in the 70's. At that time the definition of a 
second wasn't linked to the earth's rotation at all.
I still have a list of SI units somewhere, but I can't find find it 
right now. However, I remember it having something to do with caesium 
and a number of periods. I think this page uses a similar definition;
http://www2.nict.go.jp/w/w114/next-generation/One-Second/One-Second-E.html

BTW, the metre is defined in a similar way.

<Cut>


Regards,
Rob
-- 
Nothing is more surreal then reality




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