Enjoy New Year's Eve a Second Longer

That is the message from those zany partyers at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, because, for the first time since 1998, a leap second is being added to the world's clocks tonight so they are properly synched up with the actual movement of the galactiverse. This decree of an additional second was sent out to "authorities responsible for the measurement and distribution of time" (how excellently mind boggling is that?) by the International Earth Rotation and References Service back in July, so yes, we were prepared dammit!

For an exhaustive though fascinating (to geeks anyway) explanation of leap seconds, go to the US Naval Observatory (USNO) site here. And check out the Time Services Department of the USNO here. And how great would it be to have "Dept. of Time Services" on your business card?