Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 23:41:54 +0100 From: "Poul-Henning Kamp" <phk@phk.freebsd.dk> To: Wilko Bulte <wb@freebie.xs4all.nl> Cc: Matthias Andree <matthias.andree@gmx.de>, current@freebsd.org Subject: Re: FreeBSD handles leapsecond correctly Message-ID: <81077.1136241714@critter.freebsd.dk> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Mon, 02 Jan 2006 23:31:47 %2B0100." <20060102223147.GA55461@freebie.xs4all.nl>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
In message <20060102223147.GA55461@freebie.xs4all.nl>, Wilko Bulte writes: >> Considering that a merry band of brits are still fighting to get >> compensation for the 15 days they "lost" last time Brittain changed >> calendar, the political and legal fallout will probably galvanize >> the current calendar until something really drastic happens. > >Like the earth starting to rotate in the other direction? :-P Hard to tell. The most likely mechanism for such an event is the spinning-top like reversal of the Earths core relative to the mantle. I'm not sure if we know the relative masses and momentums well enough to tell exactly how the two will flip relative to the other, the friction between them is a big unknown variable too. If we assumed it happened without significant losses so that only the direction changed, then the calendar would still be good to go. Another mechanism could be changes to the Earths orbital parameters by vagabondeering masses passing through our solar system. As far as I know, we have no reliably geological or fossil records of that happening recently. A Roman empire style collapse of western civilization however is not merely a possibility, it's nearly a certainty, only the timescale being really in doubt. Poul-Henning -- Poul-Henning Kamp | UNIX since Zilog Zeus 3.20 phk@FreeBSD.ORG | TCP/IP since RFC 956 FreeBSD committer | BSD since 4.3-tahoe Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by incompetence.
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?81077.1136241714>