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Showing Original Post only (View all)Earth's spin is slowing at a rate of 1.8 milliseconds per century [View all]
Source: LA Times
The latest findings in Earth science are brought to you by ancient astronomers who observed the heavens as much as 2,700 years ago.
Thanks to hundreds of records of lunar and solar eclipses carved in clay tablets and written into dynastic histories, modern scientists have determined that the amount of time it takes for Earth to complete a single rotation on its axis has slowed by 1.8 milliseconds per century, according to a report published Wednesday in Proceedings of the Royal Society A.
It may not sound significant, but over the course of 2½ millenniums, that time discrepancy adds up to about 7 hours.
In other words, if humanity had been measuring time with an atomic clock that started running back in 700 BC, today that clock would read 7 p.m. when the sun is directly overhead rather than noon.
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-earth-longer-days-20161205-story.html
Interesting.