Sorry for being slow on the uptake here – I wanted to blog this on Friday but was out of office and couldn’t access the blog until today…

According to New Scientist 2008 is going to be extended, by one ‘leap second’. (Never heard of them before, me neither!)

A single leap second will be added at the end of the year to accommodate a subtle slow-down in the Earth’s rotation.
The decision, made earlier this year by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, will adjust coordinated universal time (UTC), which is used to calibrate national and regional clocks around the world.
The leap second will be added on 31 December 2008 at 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds UTC.

So how does that work? Will we count down from 11 instead of ten? Or say one twice? (Or pause for dramatic effect?!) Will people even notice or will everyone start singing Auld Lang Syne a second too soon? I’ve somehow managed to miss the leap second before this, although this is by no means the first one:

This leap second will be the 24th added to the world’s clocks since 1972, and the first one added since the end of 2005. No leap seconds were added between the end of 1998 and the end of 2005 due to a slight, temporary acceleration in the Earth’s rotation.

I’m fascinated by this and think I’ll actually be making it a feature at whatever New Years Eve event I end up at somehow I’ve been oblivious to these extra seconds until now, this year I intend to get my monies worth!
What will you do with the extra second?