Get ready for a minute with 61 seconds. Scientists are delaying the start of 2006 by the first "leap second" in seven years, a timing tweak meant to make up for changes in the Earth's rotation.

The adjustment will be carried out by sticking an extra second into atomic clocks worldwide at the stroke of midnight Coordinated Universal Time, the widely adopted international standard, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology said this week.

"Enjoy New Year's Eve a second longer," the institute said in an explanatory notice. "You can toot your horn an extra second this year."

Coordinated Universal Time coincides with winter time in London. On the U.S. East Coast, the extra second occurs just before 7 p.m. on New Year's Eve. Atomic clocks at that moment will read 23:59:60 before rolling over to all zeros.

A leap second is added to keep uniform timekeeping within 0.9 second of the Earth's rotational time, which can speed up or slow down because of many factors, including ocean tides. The first leap second was added on June 30, 1972, according to NIST, an arm of the U.S. Commerce Department.

Since 1999 until recently, the two time standards have been in close enough synch to escape any need to add a leap second, NIST said.

Although it is possible to have a negative leap second -- that is, a second deducted from Coordinated Universal Time -- so far all have been add-ons, reflecting the Earth's general slowing trend due to tidal braking.

Deciding when to introduce a leap second is the responsibility of the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, a standards-setting body. Under an international pact, the preference for leap seconds is December 31 or June 30.

Precise time measurements are needed for high-speed communications systems among other modern technologies.

a second can really make a difference on earth in the long run

think of it this way:

we're only humans so we're usually only concerned with the effects that go on during our lifetimes--things that we would actually be affected by.

let's say we lost a second every year. just one second.

that's 16.7 minutes every thousand years.

that's 694 days every million years (which is almost two years behind in time  )

and you're probably thinking "hah.. a million years. like that makes a difference"

but earth is what? 2 billion years old?

so we would be 3,805 YEARS behind if we were to lose a second off of every year.

nvm. i found out earth is actually 4.55 billion years old 

so let's do some math here. 4,550,000,000 / 60 / 24 / 365.25 = 8,650 YEARS

8,650 years behind if we were to really lose a second every year 

meaning, we'd be in the year 6645 B.C.E

that's 3 thousand years older than the oldest human remains ever found. and that's only one second.

so i'd say, a second does make a difference 

lol very interesting..

I'm gonna tell this to my friends on new year eve this year.
They are gonna think i'm such a loser.

lol :)

why does it matter? Its only 1 second.

Okay, this is confusing and, it's 1 second how much difference can it make..?

why does it matter? Its only 1 second.

Whoa. A second. Weehee! 1 second

a second can really make a difference on earth in the long run

think of it this way:

we're only humans so we're usually only concerned with the effects that go on during our lifetimes--things that we would actually be affected by.

let's say we lost a second every year. just one second.

that's 16.7 minutes every thousand years.

that's 694 days every million years (which is almost two years behind in time  )

and you're probably thinking "hah.. a million years. like that makes a difference"

but earth is what? 2 billion years old?

so we would be 3,805 YEARS behind if we were to lose a second off of every year.

nvm. i found out earth is actually 4.55 billion years old 

so let's do some math here. 4,550,000,000 / 60 / 24 / 365.25 = 8,650 YEARS

8,650 years behind if we were to really lose a second every year 

meaning, we'd be in the year 6645 B.C.E

that's 3 thousand years older than the oldest human remains ever found. and that's only one second.

so i'd say, a second does make a difference 

a second can really make a difference on earth in the long run

think of it this way:

we're only humans so we're usually only concerned with the effects that go on during our lifetimes--things that we would actually be affected by.

let's say we lost a second every year. just one second.

that's 16.7 minutes every thousand years.

that's 694 days every million years (which is almost two years behind in time  )

and you're probably thinking "hah.. a million years. like that makes a difference"

but earth is what? 2 billion years old?

so we would be 3,805 YEARS behind if we were to lose a second off of every year.

nvm. i found out earth is actually 4.55 billion years old 

so let's do some math here. 4,550,000,000 / 60 / 24 / 365.25 = 8,650 YEARS

8,650 years behind if we were to really lose a second every year 

meaning, we'd be in the year 6645 B.C.E

that's 3 thousand years older than the oldest human remains ever found. and that's only one second.

so i'd say, a second does make a difference