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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
'Leap second' added to today
NASA / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES The tidal pull of the moon is slowing the Earth�s rotation. (CP)
PARIS -- Scientists say today will stretch a second longer than any other day this year.
A team at the Paris Observatory is adding a "leap second" just before midnight to make up for a gradual slowdown in the Earth's rotation.
Experts at the International Earth Rotation and Reference System Service make the adjustment when the planet's movement falls out of sync with atomic clocks that measure time.
U.S. Naval Observatory spokesman Geoff Chester said a leap second is needed because the Earth is slowing down a bit from the tidal pull of the moon.
A second can be added or removed as needed every six months, but it typically happens only every 11/2 years.
This week's change comes after nearly four years without a leap second -- the last one was at the end of December 2008.
-- CP / AP
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 1, 2012 A26
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