Another Leap Second upon us

[mta]

30 June 2015, the last minute of that day will have 61 seconds.

 

http://www.timeanddate.com/time/leapseconds.html

 

[Andavari]

Interesting. The concept of time we're used to isn't exactly universal once off the planet which why satellites have to adjust their time according to what time it is on the planet.

[Corona]

It's as if it's as if something jumped.

[mta]

satellites have a lot more time adjustments than that.

they lose time because they travel fast and gain time because of their height.

 

good old Einstein; time dilation, relativity, gravity and all that rock-solid science stuff.

[Northern]

30 June 2015, the last minute of that day will have 61 seconds.

 

http://www.timeanddate.com/time/leapseconds.html

Apparently time has long been studied in the fields of science, religion and philosophy.

None of the attempts have come close to giving a proper definition, or explanation, of the concept.

Maybe I can pretend to be an amateur philosopher by saying I think time does exist and is not simply a product of the human mind/imagination.

I do believe science will explain time at some point in time!

[Andavari]

I do believe science will explain time at some point in time!

 

The problem with science is they always seem to update things to suit their theories, etc., to try and explain themselves to the masses. I remember how astronomy made certain claims in the 80s, and they keep updating their "science" which seems like every decade now.

Edited June 28, 2015 by Andavari

[Nergal]

I think this is More of a case of better measurement of the earth's rotation and orbit around the sun (the two things that actual define time)

[Andavari]

That may be accurate (or so we've been told) for this solar system, however things would be different in another solar system. Gonna need a big calculator.

[Northern]

The problem with science is they always seem to update things to suit their theories, etc., to try and explain themselves to the masses. I remember how astronomy made certain claims in the 80s, and they keep updating their "science" which seems like every decade now.

I am surprised you put inverted commas, or quotation marks, around science!

I trust scientists far more than I do those who make judgements, and then draw conclusions, often based on zero observations and consequently little evidence.

I would have thought those who work in science generally update, and modify their theories, as new factual discoveries are made rather than twist facts to suit prevailing theories/hypotheses.

[Corona]

Yeah, I don't trust global warming 'scientists' either.

[Northern]

Yeah, I don't trust global warming 'scientists' either.

I live in the UK and  I have almost always been an admirer of the USA!

I do notice,however, significant numbers, of your countrymen, go even further and don't "trust" the theory of evolution either.

And, of course, there are the "conspiracy theorists" who appear to be more common in the States than elsewhere.

Mind you, that judgement is pretty much speculation and not very "scientific!"

[login123]

I am surprised you put inverted commas, or quotation marks, around science!

. . .

 

Google phlogiston. 

Remember that until a couple hundred years ago it was "The Scientific Truth".

Phlogiston theory was The Scientific Truth for millennia in spite of irreducible aberrations in experimental results. 

There are similar theoretical constructs all over the place now. 

 

Nothing wrong with trusting science, nothing wrong with trusting scientists (a very different thing), nothing wrong with trusting judgement. 

What is important, imho, is to inspect our assumptions carefully. 

When we do, we are amazed at how little we actually know. 

[Northern]

I have heard about the "theory" of phlogiston.

I don't know enough about the history of science to know when the scientific method became the prevailing way of work for the scientific community.

I do know the first "scientists"  were the alchemists, and one can hardly compare their style of work with modern science which has changed and developed since these early days.

I also know it was scientific work which disproved the idea of phlogiston and it is absurd to suggest the flaws which existed, at that time, are still major problems for modern science.

It is almost like blaming the engineering industry because cars and trains only came into use a relatively short time ago.

I have no idea what you mean by "theoretical constructs".

There are only theories, which are backed up by a considerable amount of experimental/observational evidence, and hypotheses which are basically ideas needing much more evidence to be accepted.

In science the term "theory" does not have the same meaning as in everyday speech.

Last, one of the greatest scientific theories is Einstein's theory of General Relativity, backed up by masses of evidence, but nowhere does science state it is the "truth". Despite having passed every test it still has to be refined as it cannot fully explain events at the sub atomic level.

Work will go on to try to mesh Relativity with Quantum Physics. These are the deepest, most profound questions, and can only ever be answered using the methods of modern science.

[Andavari]

I do notice, however, significant numbers, of your countrymen, go even further and don't "trust" the theory of evolution either.

 

That's because we were made by aliens.   

 

And I put quotes around science because it's always changing because the science of now will become outdated when some other genius figures things out. Sort of like how they're now correcting some little tidbits of what Einstein originally worked out.

[Northern]

That's because we were made by aliens.   

 

And I put quotes around science because it's always changing because the science of now will become outdated when some other genius figures things out. Sort of like how they're now correcting some little tidbits of what Einstein originally worked out.

You are currently the world's number one economic power, but that position may not last much longer, and is certainly not going to be helped by an education system which seems unable to convince significant numbers of its consumers, compared to other developed states, to reject creationism.

As for science, of course it is changing as the knowledge base grows exponentially and new discoveries are made. However the way science advances (the scientific method) will basically stay the same.

I am still keen to look out for that extra second despite the arguments with several of my fellow intellectuals on this forum!

[mta]

well, this certainly went left at the fork in the road, escaped outside the box completely and delved into areas I couldn't have guessed at.

 

I would have preferred they added that second on a weekend - I love long weekends.

[login123]

Yep.  Saw that coming.   

 

Does anybody really know what time it is? 

[hazelnut]

I have decided that with my extra second today I will evaluate my life..the universe...and everything

[Andavari]

You are currently the world's number one economic power

 

[joking] I didn't know I was so powerful and rich, time to go buy some Koenigsegg's, Ferrari's, and Lamborghini's I've had my eyes on, one for each day of the week. [/joking]

 

I know all empires fall and fail. I'm not going to bicker science since I use and see it everyday.

 

I have decided that with my extra second today I will evaluate my life..the universe...and everything

 

To misquote and somewhat quote Mr. Data from Star Trek: 1 second is an eternity for an android.

[login123]

Which of the seconds is the extra one?  First?  Last?  Somewhere in the middle? 

[mta]

it's the one that makes the Earth's rotation slow down so it fits in with those way-too-accurate atomic tick-tock thingies.

[Andavari]

it's the one that makes the Earth's rotation slow down

 

They said something like that on the news when Japan had that deadly earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster a few short years ago, something about the earths rotation and then how it self-corrected itself.

[Nergal]

SMH

 

It's not the science that changes; the calculation for an ellipsis' circumference (such as a planet's orbit or rotation) is based on Pi. As we are more and more capable of calculating that constant, to further decimal places, the hard set 365days which last 24hour is found to be wrong, thus we must often (every four years add a day, every so often add a second) adjust to correct the "o'clock" so we dont have to retrain our entire species of what time is.

 

 

Think of these seconds as the remainders of every day not being an exact 24 rotational hours and/or each year not being an exact 365 day orbit. If we did not do these "leaps" and "falls" of time the seasons would slowly migrate along the year throughout decades/centuries/millennia.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_year

 

Here's a cool quote about calculating elliptical circumferences

 

There is no simple formula with high accuracy for calculating circumference of an ellipse.

Meaning we can only, educatedly, guess at how many "seconds" (points on a round shape) it takes to go around the sun, and every so often science (no quotes) adjusts (not "gets it wrong" per se).