http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=AP&Date=20050921&ID=5130787 LONDON (AP) - Hold on a second! Britain's Royal Astronomical Society on Wednesday called for a public debate on the proposed abolition of leap seconds, a tiny end-of-year adjustment to keep clocks in synch with the earth's rotation.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will meet in Geneva in November to debate a proposal to abolish leap seconds after 2007. The next leap second comes at the end of this year.
Mike Hapgood, secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society, said the debate has practical implications for computers, global positioning systems and for those who study phenomena -- such as tides -- which are related to the earth's rotation.
"The debate has been rather closed, mainly among timing experts," Hapgood said in a telephone interview.
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