[LEAPSECS] leap seconds, newspapers, earth rotation

[Tom Van Baak]

"Atomic clock scientists suggest shortening minute to 59 seconds"

This is so bad it's funny. [1] A newspaper headline that's inaccurate by 
a factor of, just, 100 million.

Why? If time had 59 minutes per hour instead of 60 the clock rate would 
be off by 0.983  And if we had a leap second (positive or negative, 
doesn't matter), say every 3 years, the clock rate would be off by 
1.06e-8. The ratio of those two is 9.3e7, about 100 million.

 From a pedagogical perspective, it's a nice way to demonstrate just how 
tiny a leap second adjustment really is.

By the way, a number of news web sites have been carrying "earth is 
speeding up" and "50 years" stories the past week or so. I've read a 
number of them. Ouch. Does anyone know who started it? Is there a way to 
track it down?

It hope it wasn't LEAPSECS; we have had an influx of members in recent 
months. Fortunately the mailing list has remained very technical, and 
pragmatic about the issue.

Thanks,
/tvb

[1] 
https://nypost.com/2021/01/05/atomic-clock-scientists-suggest-subtracting-a-second-from-minute/