The last minute of 2005 will have 61 seconds

The Earth Observation (IERS) Agency, based in Paris, decided to add a second of profit on 24 December 2005 (GMT), making the total seconds in 2005 not as 31,56,926 as every year but would be 31,556,927 seconds.

In the past, to measure time, people often use water meters, pendulum clocks or solar clocks. However, since 1950, IERS experts use a new, more efficient tool to perform this task. It is an atomic clock, capable of measuring time with high accuracy: only 50 million years off a second.

The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), based in France, adopted a system of 250 atomic clocks scattered around the world, making decisions about international atomic time ( TAI - International Atomic Time) and global coordination time (UTC - Coordinate Universal Time). However, TAI is calculated based on machinery, while UTC is calculated based on the sun's growing and diving cycles.

According to astronomers, under the pressure of the tide and the impact of the Moon, the Earth slowed down due to energy loss. It is only a very small difference, but it is enough to make the difference between TAI and UTC hours, so sometimes the world needs time adjustment. The night of December 31, 2005 will be the 22nd time adjustment and may be the last adjustment in history. It is expected that in August 2006, the International Union of Telecommunications Associations (UIT) will consider terminating the use of "leap seconds".