Day?

July 19th, 2025| Topic: RaMbLeS | 0

Wednesday, July 9, 2025. A most unusual day they said it was. Likely the shortest day of your life. And mine. And everyone else’s, too.

Because … it was the shortest day period. In history! Scientists discovered that July 9, July 22, and August 5, were/will be 1.30–1.51 milliseconds shorter than the standard day.

What happened? Well, the earth’s rotation has sped up in recent years.

And how did that happen? Who knows! It’s still a mystery, but scientists believe there could be several factors that are making earth spin faster, including changes in the atmosphere and a weakening magnetic field. Weather patterns like El Niño and the accelerated melting of glaciers in summer may literally be throwing the planet out of balance by a tiny degree. Another reason for this sudden change could be shifting molten layers in the core. Earth is not solid all the way through. Its core is made of hot, swirling liquid metal. As that molten metal moves, it can change the planet’s shape and balance.

Normally, our planet takes 24 hours, or exactly 86,400 seconds, to complete one full rotation, which is called a solar day. Last year the earth spun 1.66 milliseconds faster than the standard 24 hours. If the Earth keeps rotating faster, experts may have to remove a second, called a negative leap second. It’s never happened before.

Of course, these shortened days don’t affect us much, but such shifts can potentially affect everything from satellite systems and GPS accuracy to how we measure time itself. A shift of just a few milliseconds can cause technical glitches.

(And to be honest, we can’t be sure the past and coming short days were unusual. Folks didn’t start tracking these things until the 1970s.)

For the latest estimates of earth’s spin, Graham Jones, an astrophysicist at the University of London, used information from the US Naval Observatory and international earth rotation services. He said:

Atomic clocks tracked the numbers, measuring what’s called ‘Length of Day,’ or LOD. That’s the time it takes Earth to rotate once, down to the millisecond.”

Apparently, before this recent acceleration in earth’s spin, the planet was actually slowing down, due to the moon’s gravitational pull, which has been instrumental in making our days march in a 24-hour cycle.

Geoscientist Stephen Meyers, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison:

As the moon moves further away, its changing gravitational impact on Earth would slowing make days incrementally longer. Days on our planet could eventually become 25 hours long, but that would take about 200 million years.”

And you and I will be long gone from here by then. Thankfully!

But long days? The Bible has something to say about it—where we will end for “long days,” in the presence of a great God, the Ancient of Days, Yahweh (Father+Son+Spirit):

Yahweh is my shepherd; I will not lack.
In grassy pastures He makes me lie; by restful waters He leads me.
My soul He restores;
He guides me in tracks of righteousness for the sake of His name.
Even though I walk in the valley of the death-shadow, I do not fear evil,
for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they—they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You refreshed my head with oil; my cup is overflowing.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will pursue me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of Yahweh for long days.
Psalm 23:1–6

Forever! That’s looooong—praise the Lord!

SOURCE: Daily Mail