Our day is shaped in various ways by the spinning of events such as the Earth rotating around the Sun, or the shift workers switching between the days and nights. Some of these events occur every day, while others are less predictable and more unpredictable.
For instance, most people are aware that the Earth revolves around the Sun every day. However, what is not as well-known is the speed at which Earth rotates may vary, making the day appear to be shorter or longer than what is expected. This is the reason that Atomic clocks that provide standardized time must be periodically adjusted by adding or subtracting seconds. This is known as a leap second.
One of the most frequent occurring events in the world of rotation is precession which is the cyclical wobble of Earth’s axis of motion similar to a slightly off-center spinning toy top. This axial shift with respect to fixed stars (inertial space) has a duration of 25,771.5 years and is responsible for a variety of weather conditions patterns, including the rotating direction of cyclones within the Northern and Southern hemispheres.
Scientists have also noticed that the speed of Earth rotation slows down over time, causing solar day to become longer. This is why, on June 29th, the world added one second leap to the atomic clocks so they could be more in line with the real-world Earth’s rotation. Although the addition of a single second may seem small however, it could have important implications for businesses that rely on changing schedules and rotating times. For example, for multinational companies that depend on employees from all over the world, fumbling through spreadsheets and static wiki pages to keep track of changing call schedules https://northcentralrotary.org/2019/11/15/do-you-organize-international-events/ can be costly in terms of revenue and reputation. On-call rotation software is becoming popular as it reduces interruptions to services, manages transfer coverage, and gives employees a clearer picture of the situation.