Comment Perhaps you've heard of GPS (Score 1) 289
GPS doesn't directly need leap seconds, but it relies on astronomical calculations that do.
I write software that deals with leap seconds. I don't write the stuff that actually calculates them, but I have to make sure not to break it. One of the mottos of the company I work for is "it is rocket science".
A second is a small enough margin of error to be allowable. Most time systems are based on seconds, so that's the smallest reasonable choice.
For the jokers. An error of 1 minute would be 1 nautical mile (almost 2 km). Which is 1 minute of latitude (60 minutes in a degree). Funny how minute and nautical mile are the same.
I'm an astro geek, and a sailor, don't piss in my yard.
I write software that deals with leap seconds. I don't write the stuff that actually calculates them, but I have to make sure not to break it. One of the mottos of the company I work for is "it is rocket science".
A second is a small enough margin of error to be allowable. Most time systems are based on seconds, so that's the smallest reasonable choice.
For the jokers. An error of 1 minute would be 1 nautical mile (almost 2 km). Which is 1 minute of latitude (60 minutes in a degree). Funny how minute and nautical mile are the same.
I'm an astro geek, and a sailor, don't piss in my yard.