Ancestors

Toot

Written by Annalee Newitz 🍜 on 2024-12-31 at 21:13

Happy new year, for those who are using the Julian calendar. Here is my vibe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP6jcz7WlbA

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Descendants

Written by Royce Williams on 2024-12-31 at 21:16

@annaleen Ahahah I had no idea this was from Lawnmower Man!

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Written by Annalee Newitz 🍜 on 2025-01-01 at 02:07

@tychotithonus Yep it's a total shitpost intro

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Written by Michael Grinder on 2025-01-01 at 06:56

@annaleen Julian New Year is still 13 days away. Sorry, I know more about Julian vs. Gregorian calendars than is good for me.

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Written by Annalee Newitz 🍜 on 2025-01-02 at 03:27

@mgrinder Well, I know less about it than is good for me. So are we on the Gregorian calendar in North America, then? I really should know this.

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Written by Michael Grinder on 2025-01-02 at 03:46

@annaleen Yes, the Julian calendar has leap years every four years without exception. This is too many leap years to match the astronomical reality. The Gregorian calendar is a correction of the Julian. It jumped forward 10 days and eliminated leap years on century years unless they are divisible by 400. For example, 1900 was not a leap year, but 2000 was. In three out of every four centuries the Julian calendar falls another day behind the Gregorian calendar. The current gap is 13 days.

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Written by Annalee Newitz 🍜 on 2025-01-02 at 04:47

@mgrinder Super interesting. Thank you for explaining that!

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Written by Michael Grinder on 2025-01-02 at 05:35

@annaleen You’re welcome. Back when I was teaching computer science, I’d give the problem of determining whether a given year was a leap year to my introductory programming classes. It’s a challenging problem, but simple enough for students just learning about if statements.

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