Gravity and Time Dilation

[Kougar]

Interesting science fact for the day to get that brain going...

Time passes more slowly on Earth than it does in orbit, due to the difference in gravity. The higher the gravity, the slower time passes. This may also be known as Einstein's theory of general relativity.

NASA and others discovered this when sending satellites into space. The exact number differs (It changes day to day with every resynchronization) but satellites are built to have a roughly 38 microsecond delay in their internal clocks to account for this, relative to us on Earth.

If that isn't enough science for you, how about this? http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4875-spacecraft-to-measure-earths-drag-on-spacetime.html (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4875-spacecraft-to-measure-earths-drag-on-spacetime.html) As that is from 2004, here is the wiki on it: Link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_Probe_B) Measuring the Earth's drag on the fabric of space-time, I wonder where I've heard that one before...

[darkorb]

I interesting stuff likethis :)

Thanks for the post.

Cant wait to see the results

[Sadasius]

It is a very interesting subject. I like how they are creating a measurable orbit units. I wonder if this is the beginnings of a machine to warp time further or to have some measure of control on time. Nothing like reading on some 4th dimensional manipulation in the morning.

['Amp!']

This sounds straight out of the show LOST.

Which by the way is having some awesome episodes this season.

Anyway, the whole space-time fabric thing is an awesome topic but I wonder where it will lead us. We could travel across the universe in what would appear to be a matter of days to the outside world but in our relative reality took years.

Maybe this is why UFO's have motherships large enough to house entire colonies.

[Sadasius]

This sounds straight out of the show LOST.

Which by the way is having some awesome episodes this season.

Anyway, the whole space-time fabric thing is an awesome topic but I wonder where it will lead us. We could travel across the universe in what would appear to be a matter of days to the outside world but in our relative reality took years.

Maybe this is why UFO's have motherships large enough to house entire colonies.

It is an interesting subject indeed but it has so many limitations. To have enough power to fold time enough to make it to one end of the universe would create such a force that nobody on board any ship could possibly survive even the ship itself would implode. You would basically have to harness the power of a black hole with extreme accuracy and that would be damn near impossible to do. I'm not a big believer in UFO's from an alien species. I firmly believe that if they had enough intelligence to do that then they would ultimately be a very dominant species in which we would have no chance of surviving. We would be less then a cockroach to them and expendable. They would only want to be here for study and resources. Nothing else. We are simply too primitive a species to be warranted with any kind of value or worth to such a being or beings with such intelligence and technology. Unless for food of course if you have watched the original 'V' series.

[Enigmachine]

This is getting totally off topic but I wanted to point a few things out:

1) We are probably extremely toxic to non-terrestrial lifeforms. From a chemical level to bacteria, there are just so many difference that it is extremely unlikely that an extraterrestrial lifeform would want us as food.

2) Any civilization advanced enough to reach other planets probably requires advanced automation. We need computers to send rockets in space, what do flying saucers need?

3) Taking point 1 and 2 into account, it is likely that any early alien visitor to our planet is going to be an artificial being.

4) Artificial beings do not require food either. But they require information and knowledge... We all like to study ants and pets even if they are so much less intelligent and advanced than us, why wouldn't space robots do it to us? :)

5) I remember reading some sci-fi books where intelligences liked to go down into gravity wells because they are places were energy is plentiful and the time-dilation effects make it attractive to them... I think it was from Gregory Benford, I can look it up if anyone's interested.

[Sadasius]

This is getting totally off topic but I wanted to point a few things out:

It's not totally off topic.

1) We are probably extremely toxic to non-terrestrial lifeforms. From a chemical level to bacteria, there are just so many difference that it is extremely unlikely that an extraterrestrial lifeform would want us as food.

Actually you are very wrong on this one and for one very good reason. Bacteria lives in space and even some species of spiders. Aliens would get a good dose of the same bacteria we have here. In fact it is how the earth got it's life when the settings were right. Even now we are too bombarded with alien bacterial forms all the time. Viruses on the other hand may be what you were looking for. They cannot survive in space as the UV rays would destroy the DNA.

2) Any civilization advanced enough to reach other planets probably requires advanced automation. We need computers to send rockets in space, what do flying saucers need?

You just want their computer don't you?:lol:

3) Taking point 1 and 2 into account, it is likely that any early alien visitor to our planet is going to be an artificial being.

Yes I totally agree. Probes seem to be the most logical choice to collect information first. Just as we do in our end of the galaxy.

4) Artificial beings do not require food either. But they require information and knowledge... We all like to study ants and pets even if they are so much less intelligent and advanced than us, why wouldn't space robots do it to us? :)

Yes exactly. Why would they care in dissecting you with you screaming? They would not care and would just require the information you have in your makeup.

This is a good topic in which many things can spawn from. Learning to measure and control time could be a direction in many areas for the human race. It could lead us to aliens, far off distant planets and with information that would boggle the mind and imagination. I do not think it is possible to travel back in time but slowing time down is more then possible it is part of reality. Once we learn how to do this this we can open up so many doorways that were once closed and venture forth into where no man has gone before. Yeah had to throw that in there....:icon_tiphat:

[Enigmachine]

Actually you are very wrong on this one and for one very good reason. Bacteria lives in space and even some species of spiders. Aliens would get a good dose of the same bacteria we have here. In fact it is how the earth got it's life when the settings were right. Even now we are too bombarded with alien bacterial forms all the time. Viruses on the other hand may be what you were looking for. They cannot survive in space as the UV rays would destroy the DNA.



You just want their computer don't you?:lol:


Ohhh yeah, can you imagine playing Crysis on an alien Cray? :D

The panspermia theory is still under debate - yes, Earth is bombarded every day with tons of alien material, some of which is organic compounds, but as far as I know there is no definite proof that actual bacteria (or even non-terrestrial DNA) has either populated Earth in the past or is falling on us at the moment. None of the moon and mars rocks show undeniable proof of alien life.

I think you are saying that there might be only one way to make DNA. I am not a molecular biologist, so I could be totally wrong here. What we can agree upon is that there is only one way to make organic compounds like the ones that make up basic DNA (adenine, guanine, alcohol, esthers are the same across the universe, local changes in universal constants excepted). But the way to assemble them into living beings may vary wildly. Just look at modern drugs - things like aspirin, viagra, whatever, all those drugs are one compound, but they all have isomers - the same components assembled into a different molecule. When you make a drug, you generate both the drug and its isomer at the same time - and the isomer is usually what causes the side effects of the drug, because removing isomers from drugs is one of the drug industry's biggest modern challenge.

You can also imagine that terrestrial bacteria is toxic to other terrestrial life; for example those deep-see bacteria that live in volcanic vents are sulfur and I think some of them even use arsenic in their chemistry. And how about when earth bacteria changed their chemistry to generate oxygen? That was toxic to the rest of terrestrial life, changed the whole planet's chemistry.

So... I think that means we would we just as toxic to an alien lifeform as it would be to us. It is possible that the chemistries would match, that we would have no bacteria to kill each other like what happened during the conquest of the americas, but it's unlikely.

And if you're a space alien wanting to take over a planet, just sneeze. It might have happened to us in the past. :)

Whew, long-winded, sorry! :)

[AJ.]

I don't know why, but every time I read this thread I start to laugh. No offence intended, just being honest. I don't know what it is that's making me laugh. lol :lol:

[Sadasius]

I don't know why, but every time I read this thread I start to laugh. No offence intended, just being honest. I don't know what it is that's making me laugh. lol :lol:

Because your an alien and we have found the truth...Admit it...ADMIT IT!http://img93.imageshack.us/img93/8520/angrymonkey3uv.gif

[AJ.]

Because your an alien and we have found the truth...Admit it...ADMIT IT!http://img93.imageshack.us/img93/8520/angrymonkey3uv.gif

LOL! :lol:

*runs back to mothership and takes off to Jupiter*