Whether it’s the https://northcentralrotary.org/2020/08/10/action-participants-by-board-room-is-a-book-about-work-that-everyone-should-read world rotating around the Sun or shift workers who switch between night and day, our time is formed by a myriad of rotating events. Some of these occur every day but others are more irregular and less predictable.
Most people are aware of the fact that the Earth revolves all day long around the Sun. But what isn’t as well-known is the speed at which Earth rotates is variable which can make 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 rotational events is precession which is the cyclical wobble that occurs on the Earth’s axis of motion which is similar to a, slightly off-center spinning toy top. This axial shift relative to fixed stars (inertial space) has a period of 25,771.5 years, and is responsible for a variety of weather conditions patterns, including the shifting direction of cyclones across the Northern and Southern hemispheres.
Scientists have also noticed that the speed at which the Earth is rotating slows down over long periods of time, causing solar days to become progressively longer. That’s why on June 29 the world added the leap second to atomic clocks so that they could be more in line with the actual earth’s rotation. Although the addition of one second might seem like a small amount however, it has significant implications for businesses that rely on changing schedules. For multinational companies with a global workforce managing the changing schedules of calls by fumbling around spreadsheets or static wiki pages can be costly in terms of reputation and revenue. On-call rotation software is becoming more popular as it reduces interruptions in service and also manages the transfer coverage and provides transparency for employees.