Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Happy Leap Day

Are you jumping for joy? It's Leap Day! On February 29, which occurs every four years, we balance out the orbit of the Earth around the Sun and the rotation of the Earth. The total time it takes the earth to complete a cycle around the sun is 365 days and 6 hours plus some change, so every four years there is a surplus of 24 hours. We account for that discrepancy by adding an extra day to February once every four years.


Now, if we can get everyone to jump at the same time on Leap Day perhaps we could adjust the Earth's spin to perfectly synchronize with the orbit around the Sun. No? Just a thought.


Happy Leap Day!

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