Time and tide, as the ancient saying goes, wait for no one. But what is a tide? The word “tide” is a bit confusing; most people think of it as the ebb and flow of the ocean at the beach, caused by the ...

Earth rotates once in about 24 hours with respect to the Sun, but once every 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds with respect to other distant stars. Scientists call this difference crucial to ...

Meltwater from the polar ice caps, combined with the shifting spin of Earth's core, is messing with the Earth's rotation to the point that we might need to adjust for a "negative leap second." The ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. An award-winning reporter writing about stargazing and the night sky. After a few years of speeding up, our planet now appears to ...

Across the Northern Hemisphere, people are soaking up the long hours of summer sunlight, with no idea that they’re experiencing some of the shortest days since modern timekeeping began—by a ...