GOOD IDEA OF THE WEEK SO FAR: Leap seconds

Here's a timely reminder for all you would-be revelers out there: Be careful with your countdowns this New Year's Eve. There will be a little extra time to bask in the glow of a retreating 2016 - or curse its name, as the case may be. Whatever your inclination, one thing is certain: before the year is out, the world's foremost authority on time will be adding one more second to the clock. In a bulletin released this summer, the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, or IERS, said it would be necessary to introduce a "leap second" at the end of December. Timekeepers use this added second much as leap years are used - to bring the world's atomic clocks in sync with the Earth's own distinctive rhythm, which in this case is determined by its rotation. That's right, people. Not only will we have 366 days this year, the last one will be 86,401 seconds long. The leap second will strike at 23:59:60 UTC, so depending on where in the world you are, it could already be 2017 by the time it comes.