World's Timekeepers Vote to Eliminate the Leap Second

Timekeepers have officially voted to eliminate the leap second, allowing Coordinated Universal Time to drift as much as one hour from Earth’s rotation before a correction is needed. The change ends decades of occasionally adding or subtracting seconds and replaces it with a hypothetical “leap hour” that likely wouldn’t be necessary for hundreds or even thousands of years. Smithsonian Magazine reports: “It’s kind of a philosophical discussion, because if a leap hour happens, it won’t be for a very, very long time,” Christian Bizouard, director of the IERS Earth Orientation Center in France, tel