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Should we change the year?


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Old 22-12-2016, 02:28
lybertyne
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Put the mulled wine down and sleep it off.
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Old 22-12-2016, 04:54
Dix
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Technically it isn't fine, as we date things from the birth of a historical figure that may or may not have existed, and certainly may not have been the son of God.

We should be trying to date things from both the beginning of the Universe and from when Humanity first evolved.
Yes I agree with that, as 2016 is meaningless in terms of time.
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Old 22-12-2016, 08:42
Happ Hazzard
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Supposed birth ? Do you think that he just appeared on earth as an adult ?

May or may exisited. His birth was the most significant thing in history.

Only that it is a few years out

and what is the start of the common era based on ?


Your days would be too long unless you altered the time of the second. All watches and clocks would be automatically useless.
Yes the second would be a little bit shorter, approx 0.8 of a current second.

It would be a bonanza for the clock and watch making industries, creating many jobs.
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Old 22-12-2016, 08:52
RobinOfLoxley
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Yes the second would be a little bit shorter, approx 0.8 of a current second.

It would be a bonanza for the clock and watch making industries, creating many jobs.
In China
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Old 22-12-2016, 16:46
Flash525
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There's no need to change to another system when we start colonising other planets and moons.

They can just adapt to Earth time and bloody well like it!
I don't think it'll be quite that simple. We have Earth time because of our very unique circumstances, 356 days per rotation, 12 seasons, 24 hours in a day (etc).

Another planet, or moon isn't going to have that. Sure, it'll likely have seasons, orbits and the like, but they'll all be well out of sync with Earth-time, and thus (somehow) a new time/date system will need to be implemented to unify everything.

The mathematics of this are beyond me, but I think it would be a struggle for everywhere else to work on Earth time.
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Old 22-12-2016, 16:56
RobinOfLoxley
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Submarine Time
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Old 22-12-2016, 17:14
Happ Hazzard
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I don't think it'll be quite that simple. We have Earth time because of our very unique circumstances, 356 days per rotation, 12 seasons, 24 hours in a day (etc).

Another planet, or moon isn't going to have that. Sure, it'll likely have seasons, orbits and the like, but they'll all be well out of sync with Earth-time, and thus (somehow) a new time/date system will need to be implemented to unify everything.

The mathematics of this are beyond me, but I think it would be a struggle for everywhere else to work on Earth time.
12 seasons? 12 months you mean.

Certain things can't be changed, a day is a day, and there are 365 days in a year. Pretty much everything else is man-made and can be changed.
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Old 22-12-2016, 17:20
mattkt
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I remember when I was at school getting into trouble for using AD and BC on a essay. I was told CE (common era) and BCE ( before common era) was more politically correct.
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Old 22-12-2016, 17:29
Doctor_Wibble
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Certain things can't be changed, a day is a day, and there are 365 days in a year. Pretty much everything else is man-made and can be changed.
Noting also that there are 360 degrees in a circle, this tells us that either the earth's orbital speed has slowed down such that it takes five days longer than the original design of one degree per day, or there was a miscalculation, or even that the gravity has worn off a bit and we don't need to go so fast.

Our rotation is apparently slowing down though I can't remember offhand to what extent so the degree of orbital slowing might be even higher. Something about the moon and the big watery thing sloshing around the wrong way.
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Old 22-12-2016, 17:43
ffawkes
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Noting also that there are 360 degrees in a circle, this tells us that either the earth's orbital speed has slowed down such that it takes five days longer than the original design of one degree per day, or there was a miscalculation, or even that the gravity has worn off a bit and we don't need to go so fast.
No correlation between the number of degrees in a circle and the number of days it takes the Earth to get round the sun.

Unless ypu were being ironic/humorous

edit to add: which on a second reading I think you were being.
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Old 22-12-2016, 18:14
Doctor_Wibble
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edit to add: which on a second reading I think you were being.
Sorry, should have been more obvious, I had hoped the 'original design' remark would point in the right direction.

But in between 360 degrees in a circle and 365 days in a year, we can throw in stuff about observable stellar drift, stonehenge, pyramids, pole stars that aren't pole stars, moving magnetic poles etc etc giving us more than enough room for some theory about aliens probed my goldfish and made the earth's orbit so it's not a circle any more and 365 instead of 360 to go all the way round, and if there isn't a theory about that somewhere out there, I'll be needing some ketchup for this hat
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Old 22-12-2016, 18:17
RobinOfLoxley
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https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=or...utf-8&oe=utf-8
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Old 22-12-2016, 18:18
Flash525
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12 seasons? 12 months you mean.
Yeah, months, sorry.

Certain things can't be changed, a day is a day, and there are 365 days in a year. Pretty much everything else is man-made and can be changed.
Whilst true, a day is a day, the length of a day is quite likely to vary from the perspective of another planet.

If we one day colonise another world, the people born on that world aren't going to know Earth time; they'll know only the time that they're born into (if that makes sense?) Whilst a day on another planet will still be a day, it may be two hours longer, or two hours shorter than a day on Earth.

Some genius is going to have to calculate how, as that's beyond me.
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Old 22-12-2016, 18:28
Zeropoint1
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I don't think it'll be quite that simple. We have Earth time because of our very unique circumstances, 356 days per rotation, 12 seasons, 24 hours in a day (etc).

Another planet, or moon isn't going to have that. Sure, it'll likely have seasons, orbits and the like, but they'll all be well out of sync with Earth-time, and thus (somehow) a new time/date system will need to be implemented to unify everything.

The mathematics of this are beyond me, but I think it would be a struggle for everywhere else to work on Earth time.
Sorry, perhaps my sarcasm doesn't come across as well in written form. I was posting a rediclious answer to a rediclious thread.

But out of interest does anybody know how long one day on the Moon lasts?
Would it still be 24 Earth hours or as long as 28 Earth days?
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Old 22-12-2016, 18:32
Doctor_Wibble
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Some genius is going to have to calculate how, as that's beyond me.
Two clocks. With - and this is the clever bit - attached calendars.

That will be eleventy billion quid please, small notes and delivered piled on wheelbarrows to enhance that 'caught in the wind' effect.
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Old 22-12-2016, 18:45
dodrade
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I remember when I was at school getting into trouble for using AD and BC on a essay. I was told CE (common era) and BCE ( before common era) was more politically correct.
They're the same thing.

If people are really so offended they should use an entirely new system (French revolutionary calendar perhaps?) rather than stick a meaningless term on a Christian based one.
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Old 22-12-2016, 23:56
_ben
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I remember when I was at school getting into trouble for using AD and BC on a essay. I was told CE (common era) and BCE ( before common era) was more politically correct.
That's interesting, how long ago was that? I'd never even heard the terms CE and BCE before reading this thread.
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Old 23-12-2016, 00:01
Happ Hazzard
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Yeah, months, sorry.

Whilst true, a day is a day, the length of a day is quite likely to vary from the perspective of another planet.

If we one day colonise another world, the people born on that world aren't going to know Earth time; they'll know only the time that they're born into (if that makes sense?) Whilst a day on another planet will still be a day, it may be two hours longer, or two hours shorter than a day on Earth.

Some genius is going to have to calculate how, as that's beyond me.
Different planets will have to develop their own systems of time. It shouldn't be an issue for us here on Earth in 2016. The system of time we currently use is outdated and needs to be brought up to date for modern life.
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Old 23-12-2016, 03:03
RobinOfLoxley
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That's interesting, how long ago was that? I'd never even heard the terms CE and BCE before reading this thread.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common...emporary_usage
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