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Re: News stories about "length of day" and leap seconds
From: Frank Reed
Date: 2025 Aug 5, 08:02 -0700
From: Frank Reed
Date: 2025 Aug 5, 08:02 -0700
There are more "clickbait" news stories running today on this so-called 'mysterious' tiny change in the length of the day. Here's one:
space.com mysterious-boost-to-earths-spin-will-make-aug-5-one-of-the-shortest-days-on-record.
As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, a few of the articles are closer to the underlying science. This article from NPR gets many of the details right, interviews a real expert, Dennis McCarthy, and comments on the borderline absurdity of some of the recent coverage:
Scientific experts who constantly monitor the Earth's rotation seem a bit baffled and amused that a few slightly more-speedy-than-normal spins this summer have captured the public's imagination.
Frank Reed
