The last minutes of 2008 will have 61 seconds

The last minutes of 2008 will have sixty seconds to correct an anomaly among a small atomic clocks and astronomical time, based on the rotation of the Earth.

Second are used to maintain aligned the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) with the scalar variable astronomical GMT and Universal Time (UTI). But the International Telecommunication Union has proposed to abolish such interest and add a second shift an hour every 600 years or so, reports the weekly New Scientist.

This would have important implications for the UK, because when referring to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) lose its current international status as the area where the local time coincides with the universal time for that regulates all watches.

That

Time zone or universal time would be shifting to the east to Paris for hundreds of years before returning again to Greenwich, a town near London. The proposed change would also mean that for the first time the official time would not be linked to the astronomical rotation of the Earth.

Instead of the seconds, minutes and hours are regulated by the time the rotation of the Earth, would be measured solely in accordance with the oscillations of cesium atoms. "Such a change would have profound cultural implications," says Robert Massey, of the Royal Astronomical Society of Great Britain.

Also have implications for astronomers, they would have to modify the operating software of their telescopes.

The time is now estimated in several ways: until 1972 was made with reference to GMT, ie the time the solar environment in Royal Greenwich Observatory. Universal Time (UTI) is a modern version of GMT, which is calculated by dividing a rotation of the Earth in 86,400 seconds.

But the planet is slowing gradually, so in 1972 adopted a new standard, based on high-precision atomic clocks.

The International Atomic Time (English initials: TAI, which is responsible for the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris), now defined as equivalent to a second 9.192,631.770 oscillations of an atom of cesium-133. In 1972, ten seconds were added to the interlayer UTC and have since added other twenty-three seconds, the last time at the end of 2005.

Scientists believe, however, that all this creates much confusion and can disrupt the functioning of some software. United States unsuccessfully proposed a change in 2005 and this year the International Telecommunication Union has once again raise the issue.

A working group created for that purpose last June published a report according to which most experts are in favor of removing the second interlayer and propose changes.

Next year will be surely a vote on this, and if 70% of the 191 members of that body approves it, the matter shall be referred to the World Radio Conference in 2011, which will take the final decision. Britain and China are opposed to change while the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Japan that are in favor.