On June 30, 2015, at 23:59:59 UTC (7:59:59 PM in New York), artist Sara Morawetz was in the middle of Times Square with a pair of plates. When the clock struck the next second, she banged the plates together.
This simple performance, titled 61/60, aimed to highlight that strange lapsein timewhen the clock showed 23:59:60 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), instead of 00:00:00 UTC.
Since 1972, extra seconds, known as "leap seconds", have been added to the clock's time whenever our Earth, slightly unstable, falls out of sync with atomic clocks (which operate more consistently). A total of 27 leap seconds have been added over the past five decades.
The second leap years are important in areas such as astronomy, as they maintain the link between the clock time and solar time, which is based on the movement of our planet. However, on the last Thursday, October 15, 2026, the delegates of theGeneral Conference of Weights and Measures (CGPM)in Versailles, France,voted for their abolitionstarting in 2027.
The loss of leap seconds may seem trivial to some. However, in the field of precise time measurement, they are highly controversial. Leap seconds have the potential to affect everything from the financial markets, telecommunications, and the energy sector to data centers and the legal system.
In fact, leap seconds represent a threat of disruption for any sector that requires precise timing. For example, data centers use time synchronization to ensure that distributed servers work together effectively. In the financial sector, timestamps ensure that orders are executed accurately and provide an audit trail for regulatory compliance.
When a leap second was added in 2012, it causedthe failure of websites such as Reddit and LinkedInand delays in Qantas flights.
In reports about the recent decision, these risks to computer systems were often described as the main reason for the end of the second leap year. But, in fact, the risk referred to the only universally accepted time standard.
Concerns of major technology companies
In 2008, when a second leap year was supposed to be added to the clock on December 31, GoogleShe was not willing to risk adding it all at once.Instead, the servers of the tech giant diverted from UTC for a period of 20 hours, "distributing" the extra second in increments so small that their systems did not even notice.
In practice, Google determined that UTC was not suitable for its needs, and in response, it created its own form of time measurement. More and more companies have adopted their own alternative solutions, raising concerns about the UTC's ability to maintain its position as the predominant reference for time measurement.
As a result, discussions in international bodies responsible for standardization have focused in recent years on ways in which the current time standard no longer works as a standard for everyone.
As argued by Mario Maniewicz, Director of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-R), the time of the clock needs to be updated in order tomeet the needs of 21st-century users.
At the 2022 CGPM meeting, delegates had already agreed that,by 2035, the UTC would be effectively free of leap secondsRecent predictions about future changes in the Earth's rotation have raised the possibility of introducing the first negative leap second, in which a second would be subtracted, rather than added, to the clock.
The alarm about the unprecedented impact this situation could have caused led to it beingcompared to a new event, the "Y2K bug"The increasing risk of losing UTC users to time measurement systems that do not require leap second adjustments, however, led to the agreement reached in Versailles to advance the end of leap seconds to May 20, 2027.
Meeting needs
The UTC was thus redefined so that it could be reaffirmed as a common global standard of time, free from the controversy that it once represented for manyeconomic activities.
As I have previously arguedThe debate on the second leap year showed that our usual notions of clocks as something abstract, mathematical and objective are incorrect. These notions do not take into account the fact that clocks are designed tools that can be reformulated when needs change.
Global computing and technology companies now have the time necessary for their systems to function more smoothly. But astronomers will no longer be able to use UTC as a general indicator of the Earth's rotation as they did before. The proposal submitted to the CGPM mentions this, but essentially states that they will need to seek other alternatives to meet their needs.
The implication of the decision seems to be that the needs of Big Techs have been placed above those of other sectors. But the broader question raised by the decision in the CGPM is one that the general public rarely asks: what other "user needs" are becoming dissatisfied due to the assumption that all human activities can be coordinated by a single standardized time? Astronomy offers an example of this, but our own experiences of pressure and anxiety about time suggest that there are others.
Can we reinvent time?
There is a strange kind of audacity even in considering the idea of changing the clock to meet our own needs. Google was able to do this in part becauseIt's big enough for that.
But think about the common habit of setting our watches a little ahead to help us arrive on time for meetings and other appointments. This is done so frequently that Apple had to introduce an official feature in its smartwatch, allowing people to intentionally set it to the wrong time.
Public clocks also do this occasionally, such as the clock on the Balmoral Hotel tower in Edinburgh. Since 1902, the clock has been running three minutes ahead to help travelers arrive on time at Waverley railway station nearby. There are also clocks that allow you to track time outside the standard UTC, now redefined.
Designer Scott Thrift created a watch calledThe Present, which has a single pointer that moves along with the changes in the seasons throughout an entire year. Thrift described The Present as "without hours, without minutes, without numbers. Just the overall picture". American scientistswho work on missions on Marscreated their own clocks to track the Martian days (called "sols"), which are longer than Earth days.
Many people may think that the clock's time is immutable and inevitable. As the recent vote shows, the "shape" of the clock is still debated. Currently, if you are large enough, it will adapt to your needs. We need to decide whether we are willing to simply leave this in the hands of the big players.
Michelle Bastian does not provide consulting services, works, owns shares or receives funding from any company or organization that could benefit from the publication of this article, and has not revealed any relevant connections other than her academic position.