For nearly a billion years, Earth’s rotation stopped slowing down. Locked in a rare cosmic balance, the planet’s day remained ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. An award-winning reporter writing about stargazing and the night sky. Earth could be about to record its fastest-ever rotation.

Does it feel like there's not enough time in the day for everything? Well, that could be because some upcoming days are actually getting shorter. In fact, today might just be the shortest day you'll ...

By trapping huge amounts of water on land, big dams built by humans have slightly changed how Earth spins and where its poles ...

Aren’t the summer days supposed to be longer and the winter days shorter? Since when have things gone in reverse for the summertime? Since now, maybe? Starting today? Okay, here’s what’s going on.

A billion years ago, days lasted 19 hours: the balance between the oceans, the atmosphere, and the Moon slowed down the Earth ...

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 ...

Earth takes 24 hours to complete a full rotation in a standard day, equal to exactly 86,400 seconds. July 9 was the first of three days in which a millisecond or more could be shaved off the clock on ...

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 ...

Although the Earth completes one full rotation in 86,400 seconds on average, that spin fluctuates by a millisecond or two every day. Before 2020, the Earth never experienced a day shorter than the ...

Earlier this month, the Earth spun just a bit faster than usual on July 9 and is expected to do so again on July 22 and Aug. 5, according to the website TimeAndDate. Over a millisecond was reportedly ...

On those three days, just over a millisecond is expected to be shaved off the standard 24-hour day. Of course, you're unlikely to notice such a miniscule difference in your day. But scientists who ...