Here’s something you may not have known. There are these things called leap seconds. Every so often, because the earth – as it turns out – is an inaccurate clock, we have to add one second to our atomic clocks.
Since 1967, atomic clocks have based their seconds on the following definition: “the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods/oscillations of radiation from a Cesium-133 atom at the ground state.” And, since the earth is a rickety old brick at the end of a pendulum in comparison to the 9 billion oscillations of radiation, we can’t use it for extremely accurate time measurement.
There’s a leap second coming up at the end of the year. At 23:59:60 on December 31st of 2008, all atomic clocks will add one second to their count.
Everyone on the face of the earth will be handed one extra second in their lives to do with whatever they want.
So, what will you do with your extra second? Will you use it for a moment more of contemplation about times past and times to come? Will you use your second to consider your significance in an ever expanding universe? Will you use it to contemplate time and what it really is?
Or will you use your one second to do what I’m going to do: shout “Happy New Year” one second after everyone else?
