Today’s physics news: Probe fails to set course to Mars, time is running out for the leap second and more

Today’s physics news: Probe fails to set course to Mars, time is running out for the leap second and more

Probe fails to set course to Mars
A Russian space probe intended to collect rock and dust from a Martian moon veers off course within minutes of its launch.
BBC

Time is running out for the leap second
Abolition would see ‘official’ time unmoored from the Sun.
Nature

Plasmonic absorbers turn a corner
Nanostructures could improve solar cells
Physics World

Assessing impact at proposal stage ‘absurd’, Sir Martin Rees says
The Astronomer Royal has called for a system of scientific research funding which puts far less stress on “improving efficiency in the ‘office management’ sense” and sets out to “maximize the chance of landmark achievements”.
THE