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Title: Einstein was right: space and time bend
Source: The Observer
URL Source: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2057529,00.html
Published: Apr 15, 2007
Author: Anushka Asthana and David Smith
Post Date: 2007-04-15 22:49:08 by BeAChooser
Keywords: None
Views: 636
Comments: 33

Einstein was right: space and time bend

Ninety years after he expounded his famous theory, a $700m Nasa probe has proved that the universe behaves as he said. Now the race is on to show that the other half of relativity also works

Anushka Asthana and David Smith

Sunday April 15, 2007

The Observer

Under his name in the Oxford English Dictionary is the simple definition: genius. Yet for decades physicists have been asking the question: did Albert Einstein get it wrong? After half a century, seven cancellations and $700m, a mission to test his theory about the universe has finally confirmed that the man was a mastermind - or at least half proved it.

The early results from Gravity Probe B, one of Nasa's most complicated satellites, confirmed yesterday 'to a precision of better than 1 per cent' the assertion Einstein made 90 years ago - that an object such as the Earth does indeed distort the fabric of space and time.

But this - what is referred to as the 'geodetic' effect - is only half of the theory. The other, 'frame-dragging', stated that as the world spins it drags the fabric of the universe behind it.

Francis Everitt, the Stanford University professor who has devoted his life to investigating Einstein's theory of relativity, told scientists at the American Physical Society it would be another eight months before he could measure the 'frame-dragging' effect precisely.

'Understanding the details is a bit like an archeological dig,' said William Bencze, programme manager for the mission. 'A scientist starts with a bulldozer, follows with a shovel, then finally uses dental picks and toothbrushes to clear the dust away. We're passing out the toothbrushes now.'

The Gravity Probe B project was conceived in the late 1950s but suffered decades of delays while other scientists ran tests corroborating Einstein's theory. It was Everitt's determination that stopped it being cancelled. The joint mission between Nasa and Stanford University uses four of the most perfect spheres - ultra precise gyroscopes - to detect minute distortions in the fabric of the universe. Everitt's aim was to prove to the highest precision yet if Einstein was correct in the way he described gravity.

According to Einstein, in the same way that a large ball placed on a elasticated cloth stretches the fabric and causes it to sag, so planets and stars warp space-time. A marble moving along the sagging cloth will be drawn towards the ball, as the Earth is to the Sun, but not fall into it as long as it keeps moving at speed. Gravity, argued Einstein, was not an attractive force between bodies as had been previously thought.

Few scientists need the final results, which will be revealed in December, to convince them of Einstein's genius. 'From the most esoteric aspects of time dilation through to the beautiful and simple equation, e=mc2, the vast bulk of Einstein's ideas about the universe are standing up to the test of time,' said Robert Massey, from the Royal Astronomical Society.

He said the mission was 'legitimate science' to test a theory and confirm its brilliance, but others have criticised the costs and length of the study, claiming that what was announced had already been shown. Sir Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, said the announcement would 'fork no lightning'.

The theory explained

When Einstein wrote his general theory of relativity in 1915, he found a new way to describe gravity. It was not a force, as Sir Isaac Newton had supposed, but a consequence of the distortion of space and time, conceived together in his theory as 'space-time'. Any object distorts the fabric of space-time and the bigger it is, the greater the effect.

Just as a bowling ball placed on a trampoline stretches the fabric and causes it to sag, so planets and stars warp space-time - a phenomenon known as the 'geodetic effect'. A marble moving along the trampoline will be drawn inexorably towards the ball.

Thus the planets orbiting the Sun are not being pulled by the Sun; they are following the curved space-time deformation caused by the Sun. The reason the planets never fall into the Sun is because of the speed at which they are travelling.

According to the theory, matter and energy distort space-time, curving it around themselves. 'Frame dragging' theoretically occurs when the rotation of a large body 'twists' nearby space and time. It is this second part of Einstein's theory that the Nasa mission has yet to corroborate.

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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 32.

#23. To: Diana, Christine, Brian S, Honway, Robin, Aristeides, Red Jones, Kamala, All (#0)

How does one define "time?"

By the "Omholt" definition, "...time is perceived relative change, based upon an assigned reference." The moon rotates around the Earth - relative to 'what' reference - something physical; or the "time" associated with the Sun - an always variable reference.

Put a person in a lighted and windowless cell; then vary the meal schedule. Does he/she know what "time" it is? By referring to what? A sleep schedule? events of thirst or hunger? How long does it take, without an agreed-upon reference - before they can't guess what day or month it is? Speed up or slow down a clock on the wall. Will they know what 'time' it is?

Do the digits on a 'clock' display change - relative to what? Who would know if they are faster or slower - than what reference? Human time? Clingon time? Dog? Cat?

So, if one can't pin down "time," what theories can use "time," other than to refer to an approximation?

There's the rub. What changed - "time," itself; or the physical "calibration" reference? By how much, relative to what?

Etc.


SKYDRIFTER  posted on  2007-04-16   0:17:24 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#30. To: SKYDRIFTER, Ricky J, tom007, critter, Sam Houston, scrapper2, ferret mike, christine (#23)

How does one define "time?"

By the "Omholt" definition, "...time is perceived relative change, based upon an assigned reference."

This is my theory on time but I have to warn it's unusual. I have reasons to believe it, though of course I could be wrong but it's what I think.

I believe when we are born we become stuck in a graph of sorts where say time is on the X axis and space on the Y axis. We all become embedded in the graph, and God or universal knowledge or whatever some people would call It is outside of the graph where there is no time or space. When we die our souls rise up out of the graph. Maybe the bad people go to a hell or something I don't know, but I do believe souls live on after death and rise out of time/space where there is no longer time and space as such.

I know the atheist types will be rolling their eyes, but they should not be surprised when upon death they find out they are still around, just in a different form.

And no I'm not smoking anything.

Diana  posted on  2007-04-16   2:13:08 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#32. To: Diana (#30)

No, you are right. I have had a Near Death Experience (I was a pedestrian hit head-on by an out-of-control Chevrolet Suburban which ran off the road into me going at least 40 mph). This is exactly what it feels like. You suddenly realize time was an illusion as you enter eternity. The other experience I had was that the only thing that survives physical death is love, although it is very difficult to put into words why I was left with that impression.

It DID feel like my spirit was being guided to another dimension by some entity, be it an angel or God or whatever. I was very clearly told that my life was being miraculously spared and to always remember from that point on that love is all we have and to try to practice it in all my remaining time on earth. Everything else is illusion.

There IS an afterlife. I got the impression that what happens after you die DOES to some extent depend on what you have done here. I don't know that for sure, though. I would say any "hell" would be self-imposed through having lived a life of total absence of love for others or even oneself. So much of this is not clear to me, though. I "see through a glass darkly" as Paul put it. I am no longer quite so certain (I am a Christian and saw/felt nothing on "the other side" to dissuade me) that Jesus is the only way; only that love is the only way. If Jesus is love, then I suppose we are just talking about semantics.

I was never all that dogmatic about faith or religion, but now I am less so than ever. This is why I left the Baptist church also. After 9/11, the Southern Baptist preacher here was just too damned sure that God was an American and Jesus was a Republican and Bush was the fourth member of what used to be known as the Trinity.

I pity the man. It is just sad. There is no reason to feel bitter about it. I just walked away from it. You just have to feel sorry for all these warmongers and know that "karma" is probably real also.

Sam Houston  posted on  2007-04-16   12:54:19 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


Replies to Comment # 32.

#33. To: Sam Houston (#32)

You have my deepest respect and reagard for you experience/survival/attitudes.

That's a hell of a way to gain "clarity." The hassle being that your truly meaningful range of peers is incredibly small. (...and how would I know that?)

Press onward!

SKYDRIFTER  posted on  2007-04-16 18:45:29 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


End Trace Mode for Comment # 32.

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