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World's Time Keepers Will Decide The Fate Of The Leap Second

npr:

The International Telecommunication Union’s Radiocommunication Assembly, otherwise known as the international authority that keeps close tabs on time, will debate a philosophical question this week: They will decide whether to eliminate the leap second and in doing so break its tie to astronomical time.

A leap second is a lot like a leap year, reports the Financial Times, except that it’s unpredictable. Since it was introduced in 1972, the ITU has added 24 leap seconds to recalibrate the world’s atomic clocks to keep time with Earth’s imprecise orbit.

The AP reports the leap second is causing a showdown at the international convention. The U.S. and France are advocating for getting rid of the leap second and countries like England, Canada and China are arguing in favor of the leap second saying this is more than a technical question. —Eyder Peralta