Internet SHUTDOWN – Google plans ‘leap second’ to avoid internet BLACKOUT on New Years Eve
GOOGLE is hoping to avoid the potential of a new Millennium Bug – dubbed Y2K – by adding an extra second to 2016, avoiding a computer meltdown on New Years Eve 2016.
By AARON BROWN
Express.co.uk
Thu, Dec 29, 2016
Google is hoping to avoid disaster by adding an extra second to 2016.
The additional second, dubbed leap second, is necessary because our planet’s rotation is susceptible to small, unpredictable changes.
Leap seconds allow atomic clocks, which are regulated by the vibrations of an atomic or molecular system, to keep sync with Earth’s orbit.
However computer systems are unable to handle a 61-second minute, which could spell disaster for the systems we rely on.
Thankfully Google has created its own “long seconds” to ensure machines are able to handle the leap second at the end of 2016.
Dubbed “smeared time”, the US technology company detailed in a blog post how it plans to stretch-out 20 hours’ worth of seconds to build-up the additional time – instead of adding a single second on the evening of December 31st.
Each of these 72,000 stretched seconds will be around 0.0014 per cent longer than a standard second.
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