[LEAPSECS] the leap second in the media
David Malone
dwmalone at maths.tcd.ie
Thu Jan 1 04:15:56 EST 2009
> Wednesday's PM on Radio 4 included an item about the way the keepers of
> the Big Ben clock handled the leap second. They slowed it down for several
> hours by removing a stack of old coins from a plate near the top of the
> pendulum to lower its centre of gravity. They replaced them again when it
> had lost a seond. Rubber seconds, 19th century style! You can still get
> the episode (usng realplayer) until about 17:00 UTC from this link:
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/pm/
There's also some video associated with that story, so you can
see the pennies:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7797818.stm
and some mention of Peter Whibberley.
David,
More information about the LEAPSECS
mailing list