The Chinese calendar is 4721 years old. Did it have the same problem as the Julian calendar with an imprecise number of days per year?

BarqsHasBite@lemmy.ca to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world – 148 points –

Fyi there are 365.242374 days in a year.

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The only real solution is to use rockets to nudge the Earth into a slightly faster orbit so it can be an even 365.

You are wrong. It is easier to adjust earth rotation around its own axis, changing day duration, so that there are exactly 365 days in a year. Well, maybe 256 is better.

Actually, it's cheaper to just move water around. China did it, so can the rest of the world.

I'm intrigued by your comment, what are you referencing?

edit: thanks for the answers! fascinating

The 3 Gorges Dam in China slowed the Earth's rotation by .06 microseconds per day due to the amount of water moved altering the Earth's moment of inertia

Some weird grammar in that article. I thought it was AI at first.

a figure skater attempting to spin faster will draw her arms tight to her bodies, and thereby reduce her moment of inertia.

How many bodies does she have?

Those blade skates can kill a couple dozen people before they dull out. I'd say 69.

And the fun part about orbital mechanics is you get that faster orbit by decelerating the earth. Orbital mechanics are a little ironic, don't ya think?