Rotating Events in Our Time
Our time is shaped various ways by the spinning of events such as the Earth spinning around the Sun or shift workers switching between the days and the nights. Some of these occur every day but others are more unpredictable and less predictable.
Most people are aware of the fact that the Earth revolves all day long around the Sun. The thing that is less well-known is that the speed at which Earth rotates may vary, making days appear shorter or longer than you would expect. The atomic clocks, which maintain the same time, have to be adjusted periodically by adding or subtracting seconds. This change is known as a leap second.
One of the more frequent periodic events that rotate is precession, which is the cyclical movement of the Earth’s axis of motion similar to a spinny 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 it is the cause of a variety of weather conditions patterns, such as the rotating direction of cyclones within the Northern and Southern hemispheres.
Scientists have also discovered that the speed at that the Earth turns slows over long periods of time, causing solar days to become progressively longer. That’s why on June 29, the world added one second leap to atomic clocks in order that they could better align with the real-world rotation of our planet. While the addition of one second may seem insignificant however, it has significant implications for businesses that rely on changing schedules. For instance multinational companies that rely on employees from all over the world, fumbling through spreadsheets and static wiki pages to manage shifting call schedules could be costly in terms of revenue and company reputation. On-call rotation software is becoming more popular because it cuts down on interruptions to service and helps manage transfer coverage and provides transparency for employees.