Editorial Board
Time Is of the Essence in Deciding Fate of the Leap Second: View
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On leap day, let us pause to consider the future of a much smaller time correction: the leap second. Last month in Geneva, the International Telecommunication Union, an arm of the United Nations that manages timekeeping, postponed for three years a decision on whether to abolish leap seconds altogether.
This much-needed delay will allow the world to assess exactly what it might cost scientists, computer engineers and the rest of us to lose a tiny but powerful mechanism for keeping track of real time.