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NewsNIST proposes public-private group to help with NVD backlog Pin
Kent Sharkey4-Apr-24 7:01
staffKent Sharkey4-Apr-24 7:01 
NewsThe moon is getting its own time zone Pin
Kent Sharkey4-Apr-24 7:01
staffKent Sharkey4-Apr-24 7:01 
GeneralRe: The moon is getting its own time zone Pin
Nelek4-Apr-24 10:54
protectorNelek4-Apr-24 10:54 
GeneralRe: The moon is getting its own time zone Pin
jeron14-Apr-24 11:14
jeron14-Apr-24 11:14 
GeneralRe: The moon is getting its own time zone Pin
trønderen4-Apr-24 12:21
trønderen4-Apr-24 12:21 
GeneralRe: The moon is getting its own time zone Pin
Kent Sharkey4-Apr-24 12:29
staffKent Sharkey4-Apr-24 12:29 
GeneralRe: The moon is getting its own time zone Pin
Daniel Pfeffer5-Apr-24 3:35
professionalDaniel Pfeffer5-Apr-24 3:35 
GeneralRe: The moon is getting its own time zone Pin
trønderen5-Apr-24 5:34
trønderen5-Apr-24 5:34 
Daniel Pfeffer wrote:
Nothing in the Apollo missions required accuracy to that level, but synchronising computers nowadays between the Earth and the Moon does.
To highlight this: A coworker of mine was earlier working on GPS. He told that when the first satellites were put up, there were big arguments in the development team between those who insisted that because the gravitation is weaker out where the satellites go, you have to correct the clocks for time running faster up there, and then there were those laughing at this. The latter were the stronger, so the first satellites launched without relativistic corrections applied.

The initial positioning values were as precise as had been estimated. Gradually, over several weeks/months, they became more off target. The 'relativistic' guys nodded: That corresponds quite closely to what we told you - the errors add up! Now, the victory of the 'newtonians' was not absolute or final - the software in the satellites included both the 'relativistic' and 'newtonian' versions, and they could activate the relativistic corrections by remotely throwing a simple switch; the software was in place. In a flash, the positioning values became correct with the expected precision.
I think a better idea would be to add "backward leap" milliseconds every 17 days or so (i.e. the last second of a day would have 999 milliseconds), and keep syncronization with the Earth that way.
'Synchronous' implies an idea of perfect simultaneity (on Earth and on the Moon). In a relativistic world, that is not possible. For larger time intervals, you can tell that an event on Earth occurred 'before' some other event on the Moon, or the other way around, although not exactly how much. When the events come closer in time (determined by the light's travel time between them), you cannot tell which event occurred 'before' the other.

As the concept of 'simultaneous' is invalid, it doesn't make sense to regularly 'resynchronize' Earth and Moon clocks. For interworking, you have to make relativistic corrections anyway. It does make sense to have a local time reference point on the Moon, though - in particular for local operations up there!

So my comment about UTC was a joke - but a serious one: If we, here on Earth, would relate to one single time reference point (e.g. UTC), rather than 24 (or actually about 30 - some time zones are shifted by 20 or 30 minutes), a lot of problems would have been avoided, coordination simplified. China, which we call Red China, realized this many moons ago, and adopted a single time zone for the entire country. Let's do it for the entire Earth (Moon excluded)!

Religious freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make five.

GeneralRe: The moon is getting its own time zone Pin
Daniel Pfeffer6-Apr-24 10:43
professionalDaniel Pfeffer6-Apr-24 10:43 
GeneralRe: The moon is getting its own time zone Pin
TNCaver5-Apr-24 11:18
TNCaver5-Apr-24 11:18 
JokeRe: The moon is getting its own time zone Pin
Daniel Pfeffer6-Apr-24 10:46
professionalDaniel Pfeffer6-Apr-24 10:46 
GeneralRe: The moon is getting its own time zone Pin
TNCaver8-Apr-24 3:32
TNCaver8-Apr-24 3:32 
GeneralRe: The moon is getting its own time zone Pin
Daniel Pfeffer8-Apr-24 7:51
professionalDaniel Pfeffer8-Apr-24 7:51 
NewsMicrosoft Edge will let you control how much RAM it uses soon Pin
Kent Sharkey4-Apr-24 6:46
staffKent Sharkey4-Apr-24 6:46 
GeneralRe: Microsoft Edge will let you control how much RAM it uses soon Pin
Nelek4-Apr-24 6:57
protectorNelek4-Apr-24 6:57 
NewsOpera allows users to download and use LLMs locally Pin
Kent Sharkey4-Apr-24 6:31
staffKent Sharkey4-Apr-24 6:31 
GeneralRe: Opera allows users to download and use LLMs locally Pin
Nelek4-Apr-24 6:56
protectorNelek4-Apr-24 6:56 
GeneralRe: Opera allows users to download and use LLMs locally Pin
Kent Sharkey4-Apr-24 7:10
staffKent Sharkey4-Apr-24 7:10 
NewsPermission is hereby granted: sad AI sings the MIT license Pin
Kent Sharkey4-Apr-24 6:31
staffKent Sharkey4-Apr-24 6:31 
GeneralRe: Permission is hereby granted: sad AI sings the MIT license Pin
Richard Andrew x647-Apr-24 6:05
professionalRichard Andrew x647-Apr-24 6:05 
News79 percent of security pros don't think their company has adequate protection Pin
Kent Sharkey3-Apr-24 8:01
staffKent Sharkey3-Apr-24 8:01 
GeneralRe: 79 percent of security pros don't think their company has adequate protection Pin
Ron Anders3-Apr-24 9:20
Ron Anders3-Apr-24 9:20 
GeneralRe: 79 percent of security pros don't think their company has adequate protection Pin
Daniel Pfeffer3-Apr-24 20:54
professionalDaniel Pfeffer3-Apr-24 20:54 
GeneralRe: 79 percent of security pros don't think their company has adequate protection Pin
Nelek3-Apr-24 21:57
protectorNelek3-Apr-24 21:57 
GeneralRe: 79 percent of security pros don't think their company has adequate protection Pin
Ron Anders3-Apr-24 9:20
Ron Anders3-Apr-24 9:20 

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