Time after time

2008 has seemed like an interminably long year probably because it was a leap year (remember that?) - and it's not over yet. Official timekeepers are going to add yet more time - a leap second - onto 31 December to compensate for the Earth's rotation slowing - just a little, but enough to open the possibility of the "atomic clock" and other/real time falling out of kilter. It's just as well that the Boxing Day release of movie re-make "The Day The Earth Stood Still" is not based on a true story otherwise it would be hard to know where we stand.