Is the Earth’s spin slowing, and what exactly is a blue moon?

We explore the curious questions that science can answer

The Earth may be slowing down, but our days will not be getting longer any time soon (Getty/iStock)

Is the Earth’s spin slowing?

Yes the Earth is slowing down, but only slightly. In fact, the amount it is slowing down by is so unnoticeable that we don’t need to worry about it. But we can tell it’s slowing over millions of years. In Jurassic times (65 million years ago) the day was only 16 to 18 hours long. Since then the spin has slowed so the day is 24 hours long.

Is it quiet in space?