‘Time waits for no man’ – or so the saying goes. We can’t stop time and we can’t control it, although sometimes, in our minds, we think time flies – for example, when the weekend arrives, we feel it’s over in no time! But if this year in particular feels like it’s passing more quickly than others have done, there could be a scientific explanation why.
“时间不等人”——或者俗话说。我们无法停止时间，也无法控制它，尽管有时在我们的脑海中，我们认为时间过得很快——例如，当周末到来时，我们觉得它很快就结束了！但如果特别是今年感觉它比其他人过得更快，那么可能会有一个科学的解释。
Of course, we know a year is usually 365 days long. Clever scientists calculated this a long time ago. They also worked out that every four years, we need an extra day to keep our calendar in sync – this is called a leap year. But 2021 isn’t one of those years, and yet it’s not behaving like a normal year. Scientists and astrophysicists have done the math and discovered the Earth is moving faster than it ever has in the last 50 years. This means that 2021 is going to be the shortest year in decades.
当然，我们知道一年通常是 365 天。聪明的科学家很久以前就计算过了。他们还计算出，每四年，我们需要额外的一天来保持我们的日历同步——这被称为闰年。但 2021 年不是这样的年份，但它的表现也不像正常年份。科学家和天体物理学家进行了数学计算，发现地球的运动速度比过去 50 年的任何时候都快。这意味着2021年将是几十年来最短的一年。
Apparently, this is because the Earth is spinning faster on its axis, quicker than it has done in decades, and the days are therefore shorter. But they are only short by a tiny amount – around 0.05 milliseconds – so don’t panic if you haven’t noticed! However, long-term these milliseconds add up. Astrophysicist Graham Jones and Konstantin Bikos from Time and Date told The Independent newspaper: “If the Earth’s rotation continues to quicken, we may at some point require a negative leap second. If this happens, our clocks would skip a second in order to keep up with the hurrying Earth.” Since 1972, 27 leap seconds have only been added to our time and none have been taken away.
显然，这是因为地球绕轴自转的速度比它几十年来的速度更快，因此白昼更短。但它们只是短了一点点——大约 0.05 毫秒——所以如果你没有注意到，不要惊慌！但是，从长远来看，这些毫秒加起来。 Time and Date 的天体物理学家 Graham Jones 和 Konstantin Bikos 告诉《独立报》：“如果地球自转继续加快，我们可能在某个时候需要负闰秒。如果发生这种情况，我们的时钟会跳过一秒钟，以跟上快速的地球。”自 1972 年以来，我们的时间只增加了 27 个闰秒，没有一个被取消。
This really is only of concern for atomic clocks – the most accurate timekeeping devices in history. Studying the Earth’s rotation and then subtracting or adding a leap second to these clocks can ensure they remain aligned and keep us on time. But now, maybe we need to get a move on before this ‘shorter’ year is gone in a split second!
这真的只关心原子钟——历史上最精确的计时设备。研究地球的自转，然后在这些时钟上减去或增加闰秒，可以确保它们保持对齐并让我们准时。但是现在，也许我们需要在这个“更短”的一年在一瞬间过去之前采取行动！
词汇表
time waits for no man 时间不等人
time flies 光阴似箭，时光飞逝
in no time 很快，立刻
calculate 计算
in sync 同步的
leap year 闰年
do the math 进行计算
millisecond 毫秒
add up 积少成多
negative leap second 负闰秒
keep up with 跟上，不落后于…
hurrying 急忙（做某事）的，这里指地球自转速度快的
atomic clock 原子钟
accurate 精准的，准确的
timekeeping 计时
aligned 校准的
on time 准时的
in a split second 在一刹那，在一瞬间
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