When did we start measuring time in seconds?

The second (SI unit symbol: s) is the International System of Units (SI) base unit of time[1] and also a unit of time in other systems (abbreviated s or sec[2]). Between 1000 (when al-Biruni used seconds) and 1960 the second was defined as 1/86,400 of a mean solar day (that definition still applies in some astronomical and legal contexts).[3][4]

Between 1960 and 1967, it was defined in terms of the period of the Earth's orbit around the Sun,[5] but it is now defined more precisely in atomic terms. Seconds may be measured using mechanical, electric or atomic clocks. Around 1680, London clockmaker William Clement introduced the longcase or grandfather clock that was accurate enough to measure seconds reliably as one sixtieth of a minute. This clock used an anchor escapement mechanism with a seconds pendulum to display seconds in a small subdial. This mechanism required less power, caused less friction and was more accurate than the older verge escapement. Within a few years, most British precision clockmakers were producing longcase clocks.

However, 19th- and 20th-century astronomical observations revealed that this average time is lengthening and thus the sun–earth motion is no longer considered a suitable basis for definition. With the advent of atomic clocks, it became feasible to define the second based on fundamental properties of nature. Since 1967, the second has been defined to be: the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium 133 atom.[1] (i.e., huh??!) Source: Wikipedia

Input and Why does water feel wet?

I took StrengthsFinder 2.0 for the first time last month and found out my top strength is 'Input'. According to the book,

"People who are especially talented in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information...It’s very likely that you greatly enjoy the written word. You often are found poring over — that is, studiously reading — a book to acquire simple facts or to deepen your understanding of a favorite topic.. You delight in accumulating unusual insights...Instinctively, you have no difficulty diving into books, journals, files, correspondence, or Internet sites to prepare yourself for new assignments. By nature, you are driven to gather lots of information, facts, data, or insiders’ perspectives about an upcoming project. All this newfound knowledge probably prepares you to tackle first-time projects with gusto — that is, vigor and enthusiasm."

Finding this out, I felt so known. I was this kid who loved the "question of the week", Jeopardy!, and reading the encyclopedia for fun. At least, until middle school, when such things are looked down upon. But as I've begun to shed these layers, I've realized I need to feed this craving and share my quirky pieces of knowledge with people around me. Because it's fun. And out of this, my dear reader, has been born my new blog. I want to make myself chase down the "whys" that cross my mind and just see where it goes. So, feel free to contribute in any way you see fit... ask a question, post your own random facts, or disagree. Interaction is good. Here we go. :)

So. My question today: Why does water feel wet? 

And this is what I found out... according to Brita:

Is water really wet? A stupid question, quite a few of you will now say. Of course water is wet. But try to explain to a small child what "wet" actually is. In order to answer the question as to why water is wet we need to start by looking into the meaning of "wet". Follow us on a little experiment. Take one bowl of water and one of flour. Now dip one finger into the bowl of water and one into the one with flour in it. What do you feel? The water swirls and flows around your finger. When you take your finger out of the water, both the water in the bowl and the water on your finger move. It trickles down your finger and drops form on your fingertip. If you now move your dry finger through the flour you notice that the flour around this finger trickles too. But when you take your finger out again, nothing carries on moving. There is another difference that you only notice after a while. With the finger that was in the flour you do not notice any significant change in temperature but the one that was in the water starts to feel cooler shortly afterwards. Physicists call this evaporation cooling "adiabatic cooling". And so in fact water is only wet because we associate these two sensations with it: evaporation cooling and movement. In other words, "wet" simply describes a very particular combination of sensations. If you really want to split hairs, it is actually not the water that is wet but our fingers, the towel we dry ourselves on or the flannel we use to wash with.

 Why does water feel wet? To date there has been no clear answer to this. Water just does feel wet and watery and no other liquids do. The reason: water has a unique capacity for moistening the skin. It runs off the skin in a different way from petrol or alcohol, creating net-like structures and leaving only a few drops. Petrol and alcohol do not moisten the skin, they soak it completely. Human beings really only feel three things via their skin: pressure, temperature and pain. The fact that our skin can still feel wet is possibly because water acts as a stimulus to certain receptors in the skin, perhaps causing impulses in the nerves. But to date no such receptors are known. So we have to accept the explanation that we have all played with water some time as a small child, have felt movement and a cooling sensation as we did so and have remembered how the substance that causes these sensations looks. We have learnt that we call the experiences we have had and the observations that we have made in connection with water "wet". And now, if we see a puddle we are convinced that it is wet. But even our own skin is not at all sure about this as is demonstrated by a further experiment: pull on a thin latex glove, put your hand into a glass of cold water again - and lo and behold, you feel wetness again. But in fact all this is pressure and temperature…

There you have it, folks.