This is no mean feat. Planets, stars and moons train for many many centuries for this sort of thing!
Earth has recorded its shortest day since scientists began using atomic clocks to measure its rotational speed.
On June 29, 2022, Earth completed one spin in 1.59 milliseconds less than 24 hours. This is the latest in a series of speed records for Earth since 2020.
At midnight on June 30, all seven billion of us looked up at the same time like:
So what causes the Earth to spin 1.59 milliseconds faster?
It could be related to processes in Earth's inner or outer layers, oceans, tides, or even climate. Scientists are not sure, and struggle to make predictions about the length of day more than a year ahead. But there are tentative ideas.
Ah okay so shorter answer:
They'd better hurry up and figure it out, the days aren't getting any shorter around here!
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
