Post by The Dranz on Feb 15, 2012 21:58:53 GMT -5
Cracked.com in my opinion is a brilliantly funny and informative website that covers entertainment, sports, science, video games and many other aspects of society. One of the interesting topics on it are time/time travel theories.
Here are a couple of excerpts of the link: www.cracked.com/article_19659_7-theories-time-that-would-make-doc-browns-head-explode.html
I've always been interested in time dilation and while i've heard some of these theories, the ones I haven't are really interesting.
Here are a couple of excerpts of the link: www.cracked.com/article_19659_7-theories-time-that-would-make-doc-browns-head-explode.html
#6. The Higher You Live, the Faster You Age
If you want to experience a real time warp, simply walk up some stairs. It turns out that time isn't the same all over -- it actually runs faster in higher places. In a recent experiment, scientists placed two atomic clocks on two tables, then raised one of the tables by 33 centimeters ... and found out that the higher clock was running faster than the lower one at a rate of a 90-billionth of a second in 79 years.
This is called time dilation, and it happens because (as Einstein's theory of relativity predicted) gravity warps time as well as space. The closer you are to the ground, the more you are affected by the Earth's gravity and the slower time moves. On the other hand, as you get higher, gravity's pull weakens and time speeds up.
Keep in mind that this is an insignificant amount of time we're talking about here. It has absolutely no bearing on your life -- unless you rely on GPS equipment, that is. Because a clock inside a GPS satellite runs at 38 microseconds per day faster than the same clock would run on Earth, a computer has to constantly adjust everything to make up for that difference. Otherwise the consequences would be disastrous: In only one day, the entire system would be off by 10 kilometers, and it would just get worse from then on.
#5. The Faster You Go, the Slower Time Moves
So, let's say you're driving to work at around 40 mph -- that right there is apparently enough to cause time to move 0.0000000000000002 percent slower than it would if you were standing still.
#3. Faster-Than-Light Neutrinos Could Mean Time Travel Is Possible
Laws of physics and our general understanding of how the world works hinge on the principle that nothing can actually travel faster than the speed of light, except maybe mall Chinese food through your digestive tract. But prepare to shit your pants a second time, because the most fundamental principle of the universe may no longer be on the table. Scientists at CERN (the ones responsible for the Large Hadron Collider) and OPERA may have accidentally discovered that, under certain circumstances, subatomic particles known as neutrinos can maybe, possibly, potentially travel faster than the speed of light.
#1. One Day, Time Itself Must Die
So how long have we got? In four out of five possible calculated scenarios, time is most likely to end in about 3.3 to 3.7 billion years. Whew. But in the fifth scenario, time could end before you finish this sentence.
So it turns out we live in a reality that's like an old pocket watch, and one day it's just going to wind down. In fact, when it happens, we won't even see it coming. The scientists describe it like watching someone falling into the event horizon of a black hole, like we covered earlier. Things slow down and eventually just ... stop.
We won't even be aware of what's happened. Everything will work one second and won't the next. We'll all just be frozen in place, completely still. Forever and ever.
If you want to experience a real time warp, simply walk up some stairs. It turns out that time isn't the same all over -- it actually runs faster in higher places. In a recent experiment, scientists placed two atomic clocks on two tables, then raised one of the tables by 33 centimeters ... and found out that the higher clock was running faster than the lower one at a rate of a 90-billionth of a second in 79 years.
This is called time dilation, and it happens because (as Einstein's theory of relativity predicted) gravity warps time as well as space. The closer you are to the ground, the more you are affected by the Earth's gravity and the slower time moves. On the other hand, as you get higher, gravity's pull weakens and time speeds up.
Keep in mind that this is an insignificant amount of time we're talking about here. It has absolutely no bearing on your life -- unless you rely on GPS equipment, that is. Because a clock inside a GPS satellite runs at 38 microseconds per day faster than the same clock would run on Earth, a computer has to constantly adjust everything to make up for that difference. Otherwise the consequences would be disastrous: In only one day, the entire system would be off by 10 kilometers, and it would just get worse from then on.
#5. The Faster You Go, the Slower Time Moves
So, let's say you're driving to work at around 40 mph -- that right there is apparently enough to cause time to move 0.0000000000000002 percent slower than it would if you were standing still.
#3. Faster-Than-Light Neutrinos Could Mean Time Travel Is Possible
Laws of physics and our general understanding of how the world works hinge on the principle that nothing can actually travel faster than the speed of light, except maybe mall Chinese food through your digestive tract. But prepare to shit your pants a second time, because the most fundamental principle of the universe may no longer be on the table. Scientists at CERN (the ones responsible for the Large Hadron Collider) and OPERA may have accidentally discovered that, under certain circumstances, subatomic particles known as neutrinos can maybe, possibly, potentially travel faster than the speed of light.
#1. One Day, Time Itself Must Die
So how long have we got? In four out of five possible calculated scenarios, time is most likely to end in about 3.3 to 3.7 billion years. Whew. But in the fifth scenario, time could end before you finish this sentence.
So it turns out we live in a reality that's like an old pocket watch, and one day it's just going to wind down. In fact, when it happens, we won't even see it coming. The scientists describe it like watching someone falling into the event horizon of a black hole, like we covered earlier. Things slow down and eventually just ... stop.
We won't even be aware of what's happened. Everything will work one second and won't the next. We'll all just be frozen in place, completely still. Forever and ever.
I've always been interested in time dilation and while i've heard some of these theories, the ones I haven't are really interesting.