The world is about to get a well-earned long weekend but don't make big plans because it will only last an extra second. A so-called "leap second" will be added to the world's atomic clocks as they undergo a rare adjustment to keep them in step with the slowing rotation of the Earth.
这个双休日,全世界人民将理所当然地享受一个更长的周末,但是你也别制定什么宏伟计划,因为你只不过会多拥有一秒钟罢了。本周末,世界原子时将添加一秒,以协调地球自转速度变慢而造成的(世界时与原子时之间的)差异,这一秒就被称为“闰秒”。
何为闰秒?
闰秒的诞生,和“秒”的定义不断发展有关。一开始,一秒被定义为一天的1/86400,所谓的“一天”则是根据地球自转决定的。这套计时系统被称为“世界时”。随着科技的发展,人们对计时的精确性要求更高,设备条件也更先进。于是原子秒诞生了。1967年国际计量委员会决定,1秒被定义为一种特定的铯原子跃迁所产生的电磁波辐射振荡周期的9192631770倍。
但是,人们对于时间的感知,还是依靠日出日落等昼夜变化规律——这仍然是基于地球自转的世界时系统。有资料显示,地球正有越转越慢的趋势,日长在每100年内大约会增加1-2毫秒。为了让原子时和世界时尽量接近,英国格林尼治天文台于1972年引入闰秒概念:当两者之间相差0.9秒(含)以上,就要在当年的年中(6月30日最后1分钟)或者年底(12月31日最后1分钟),对原子时系统增加或减去1秒。对于东八区的中国来说,就是在7月1日(或者翌年1月1日)7时59分内增加1秒。
这一秒你可以做什么?
1. Have a contest to see how many times you can blink in one second.
来场比赛,看看自己一秒钟里可以眨几次眼。
2. Listen to Steppenwolf's 1968 album 'The Second'.
听1968年Steppenwolf的唱片'The Second'。
3. Enjoy slamming a door.
摔门欢乐多。
Another perfectly good source of pleasure that only takes a moment – just let everyone else in the house know what you're up to first or you'll spend more time explaining yourself than having fun.
只需一秒钟,摔出欢乐来。但是记得先跟家里人打声招呼,否则等你摔完门乐倒没乐多久,却要花上大把时间解释自己的行为。
4. Take a photograph of a flower.
给花拍张照。
If nature is giving you that extra second because of the spin of the Earth, then why not spend it with nature, and treasure the moment forever.
由于地球的自转问题,大自然给了你这多余的一秒,那为何不与自然一起共度呢?拍下照片永远珍藏这份记忆吧。
5. Post a status update on Weibo at 7:59:60.
在闰秒到来之际发条微博。
Because I want to know if coders have added a line of code to cope with the leap second...
好吧,其实我只是想知道程序员们有没有编写好程序添加这一秒……
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