With today being the 29th of February, have you ever wondered why leap years exist?

Dr Karl Kruszelnicki joined Julie-anne Sprague on 6PR Afternoons to reveal the science and history behind leap years.

“It genuinely exists, because of a mismatch to do with the earth’s motion in space,” Dr Kruszelnicki said.

“You’ve got two motions, one is the spinning of the earth and that’s the rotation of the earth, roughly one day. And then there’s the orbit of the earth, where it orbits around the sun and to get exactly back to the same spot is not exactly 265 days.”

Press PLAY to hear the full history of the leap year 

Image: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images for SXSW Sydne