2008 will go down as a long year

That's because an extra second will be added at 23:59:59 on December 31st. According to those who keep an eye on the earth's rotation, tides and other factors have skewed the gap between atomic clocks and the sun's position above the earth.

Such factors and adjustments are not rare. Alterations to time are made from every six months to seven years--whenever the earth's position and atomic clocks are off by one second or more.

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