Every second counts. Or does it? The answer holds leap second's fate

International timekeepers are meeting in France to debate the future of the bothersome leap second

The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM – Le Bureau Internationale Poid et Mesure) meets tomorrow (November 18) at its headquarters in Versailles, France, to vote on various things. One of these involves the future of the “leap second”: Will international timekeepers continue to add a second every so often to adjust for natural variations in the Earth’s rotation and revolution?

Many of the world’s largest digital businesses and several government bodies wish to abandon this practice. This decision, one way or another, will actually make a difference to ordinary citizens.

What is a second?

The basic unit of