(31. März 2003)

To make the world’s official time agree with where the Earth actually is in space, scientists in 1972 started adding an extra „leap second“ on the last day of the year.

For 28 years, scientists repeated the procedure. But in 1999, they discovered the Earth was no longer lagging behind.

At the National Institute for Science and Technology in Boulder, spokesman Fred McGehan said most scientists agree the Earth’s orbit around the sun has been gradually slowing for millennia. But he said they don’t have a good explanation for why it’s suddenly on schedule.