All articles tagged with #calendar
New research reframes the Dresden Codex as a working astronomical tool: its eclipse table spans 405 lunar months and uses overlapping reset points to keep predictions within about 51 minutes of accuracy over 134 years, showing Maya scribes maintained data for long-term eclipse forecasting and linking to events like the 1991 eclipse when properly anchored.
PCMag’s 2026 video game calendar previews a month-by-month lineup of announced titles across PC, PS5, Switch/Switch 2, and Xbox Series X/S, highlighting a wide slate from January debuts like Pathologic 3 and Mio: Memories in Orbit to a November showing for Grand Theft Auto VI, plus remasters and cross‑gen releases signposting a fluid, update-ready year for gaming.
Across Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Libya, Amazigh communities celebrate Yennayer, the new year tied to a calendar that begins in 950 BC, as they usher in 2976 with feasts, parades, and traditional foods, reflecting a long cultural revival after historical marginalization; Yennayer is now recognized as a public holiday in several countries.
In 2026, Social Security beneficiaries will receive their monthly payments on Wednesdays, with the schedule based on their birth dates, similar to 2025. The year will also see a cost-of-living adjustment, Medicare increases, and potential tax relief, supporting around 74 million Americans relying on these benefits.
Google has introduced a new AI-powered 'Help me schedule' feature in Gmail that uses Gemini to suggest optimal meeting times based on calendar availability, streamlining the process of scheduling one-on-one meetings. The feature integrates directly into Gmail, allowing users to easily propose times and automatically update calendars when meetings are confirmed. This enhancement is part of Google's broader push to embed AI into its Workspace tools.
Photographer Andrew McCarthy creatively combines his astrophotography with his adopted cat Gregory, creating space-themed photos for a calendar that will support an animal shelter, inspired by his love for both space and cats.
House Democrats released Jeffrey Epstein's schedules, revealing a tentative visit by Elon Musk to Epstein's island in 2014, which Musk denies. The release also includes meetings with other powerful figures, highlighting Epstein's connections with wealthy and influential men. Musk has previously stated he never visited Epstein's island and knew Epstein only superficially. The documents are part of ongoing investigations into Epstein's network and its connections to prominent individuals.
IndyCar star Scott McLaughlin criticized Formula 1 for disrupting traditional motorsport schedules by changing the 2026 calendar, notably moving the Monaco Grand Prix away from the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 race days, which he laments as damaging to the sport's tradition and fan experience.
2024 is a leap year, with Feb. 29 occurring every four years to account for the Earth's orbit. Leap day deals and celebrations are happening, with businesses offering special discounts and freebies. The concept of leap days has been around for millennia, with Julius Caesar and the Egyptians playing key roles in its creation. People born on leap day, known as "Leaplings," celebrate their birthdays on Feb. 28 or March 1 during non-leap years, making it the rarest birthday.
Judah Levine, head of the Network Synchronization Project at NIST, explains that Leap Day was introduced by Julius Caesar to align the calendar with the natural world, ensuring that the spring equinox coincided with the spring season for harvest festivals like Passover and Easter. This adjustment helps synchronize the world's clocks with each other and with the astronomical cycle, demonstrating that Leap Day is more than just a calendrical adjustment—it's about keeping major holidays from colliding.
Leap year was introduced to keep the calendar in sync with annual events due to Earth's orbit not being precisely 365 days a year. Without a leap day, major events would fall out of sync, causing seasons to align differently and potentially leading to summer in November. The concept of leap year evolved from ancient civilizations to the Julian calendar and eventually the Gregorian calendar. Leap day also comes with folklore about women proposing to men, and being born on a leap day can present paperwork challenges but also unique celebrations for leaplings.
Leap years, which occur every four years, are a result of the Earth's orbit taking roughly 365.24219 days to complete, leading to the need for an extra day every four years to keep the calendar in sync with the solar year. The rules governing leap years are complex, with exceptions at the turn of centuries and the requirement for a year to be divisible by 400 to be a leap year. These adjustments are necessary to prevent the calendar from falling out of sync with the seasons due to the Earth's axial tilt, and to maintain accuracy in timekeeping.
Leap years exist because it takes 365.2422 days for Earth to orbit the sun, resulting in a quarter-day discrepancy each year. An animation by planetary scientist James O’Donoghue illustrates this, showing that without leap years, the calendar would drift over time. The current leap year system, established by Pope Gregory, includes exceptions to maintain accuracy, such as skipping leap years divisible by 100 unless they're also divisible by 400. While some propose a new calendar without leap days, the current chaotic calendar has its merits, and for now, we get an extra day this year due to the leap year system.
The leap year, occurring nearly every four years, is a result of the Earth's orbit around the sun taking approximately 365.242190 days. This extra day is added to the Gregorian calendar to maintain synchronization with the solar year. The tradition of leap year has historical roots in various civilizations and has implications for birthdays, with about 5 million "leaplings" worldwide. While some celebrate leap day with festivities and traditions, others, like economist Steve Hanke, advocate for a new calendar system to eliminate the need for leap years.
Leap years, with their extra day added to February every four years, help keep the 12-month calendar aligned with Earth's movement around the Sun. The concept dates back to ancient Rome, where a solar calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar and later refined by Pope Gregory XIII into the Gregorian calendar. Without leap years, the calendar would gradually fall out of alignment with the seasons. Other calendars, such as the Jewish and Islamic calendars, have their own methods of timekeeping. Astronomy, originating as a way to make sense of daily lives, exemplifies how humans found order in seemingly chaotic conditions, with ancient methods still persisting today.