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Earth's day lengthens by two milliseconds a century, astronomers find

There may never be enough hours in the day to get everything done, but at least the forces of nature are conspiring to help out. Astronomers who compiled nearly 3,000 years of celestial records have found that with every passing century, the day on Earth lengthens by two milliseconds as the planet’s rotation gradually winds down. The split second gained since the first world war may not seem much, but the time it takes for a sunbeam to travel 600km towards Earth can cost an Olympic gold medal, as the American Tim McKee found out when he lost to Sweden’s Gunnar Larsson in 1972.”

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