Clocks are running slow across Europe because of an argument over who pays the electricity bill
Electricity pylons seen next to a hydroelectric power station in Scotland.” data-portal-copyright=”Photo by Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images” data-has-syndication-rights=”1″ data-focal-region=”x1:2012,y1:1211,×2:2776,y2:1975″ src=”https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yh7twGQVND6_3P8wuGX8vMVCodg=/5×0:4784×3186/1310×873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58952093/518188160.jpg.0.jpg”>
Over the past couple of months, Europeans have noticed time slipping away from them. It’s not just their imaginations: all across the continent, clocks built into home appliances like ovens, microwaves, and coffee makers have been running up to six minutes slow. The unlikely cause? A dispute between Kosovo and Serbia over who pays the electricity bill.
To make sense of all this, you need to know that the clocks in many household devices use the frequency of electricity to keep time. Electric power is delivered to our homes in the form of an alternating current, where the direction of the flow of electricity switches back and forth many times a second. (How this system came to be established is complex, but the advantage is that it allows…
