Leaping Over Earth

A view of the Earth taken during the Galileo Mission of the Earth and Moon is shown in this undated handout photograph. Scientists are delaying the start of 2006 by the first 'leap second' in seven years, a timing tweak meant to make up for changes in the Earth's rotation. The adjustment will be carried out by sticking an extra second into atomic clocks worldwide at the stroke of midnight Coordinated Universal Time, the widely adopted international standard, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology said this week. NO SALES EDITORIAL USE ONLY REUTERS/Nasa/Handout