[LEAPSECS] What timekeeping system should the Terra Nova settlers use?

[Clive D.W. Feather]

Daniel R. Tobias said:

> going through a time-tunnel to join a settlement being established in 

> the time of the dinosaurs (supposedly in an alternate timeline, so 

> they won't cause paradoxes by stepping on a butterfly or something).  

> In that time, the Moon is much closer to Earth, as is shown in a 

> nighttime scene.  However, nothing has been mentioned yet about the 

> length of the day, but it was shorter than the current day, which 

> would, I imagine, have an impact on timekeeping in this colony.

[...]

Depending on which dinosaurs are involved, the length of day would vary
from about 23h13m (Eoraptor) to 23h45m (T.Rex). Even with the shorter of
these two, the moon would have been more than 98% of its present average
distance from the earth (59.3 earth radii instead of 60.3). Even three
times as long ago as that, it was only 58.2 radii, 96.5% of the distance.
The difference wouldn't be visible to the naked eye (it varies more than
that even now).

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