« Great Technology Tools–Part 2 | Home | Curious about DirectTV Tivo »
Einstein’s Theory of Relativity on Galveston Bay
By Larry Hendrick | April 18, 2005
Living on Galveston Bay has many advantages and, I must admit, a few disadvantages. The scale is definitely tilted in favor of, but nothing is perfect. Here is a classic example from this morning.
Yesterday we (my wife and I) were discussing Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity (hang with me here, this is good). I was explaining it in the terms I remember from my schooling years.
“Time is not constant, as speed increases, time and matter decrease, until at the speed of light, matter and time cease to exist.”
So she asked, “How can scientists tell how far the sun is from the earth, if the light travels at the “speed of light” wouldn’t time not pass?” Ahhh…good question. And, of course, from the same memory cell, I said, “Light travels at 186,000 feet per second, and it takes just over 7 minutes to get from the sun to us?” (hang on, we’re getting to the good stuff). I was, of course, hoping to derail the conversation by my dazzling knowledge, but because I had no answer for the actual question, the conversation pretty much stopped right there, until this morning.
I noticed that the clock in the kitchen was 5 minutes slower than the clock in the living room, which I mentioned.
Without missing a beat, my wife surmises, “Maybe times slows as you get nearer the water…”
Well, I must admit that from experience, this is actually a good theory. Have you ever noticed the lack of work done on a beach? We joke that if we have anything to do, we do not open the blinds in the dining room, because you get mesmerised by the waves and the movement. You can see for yourself on the live BayCam we have in the dining room.
It seems that this might require further study. Maybe we can get one of those big grants from the US Government to check it out. This could take years, but if we can do the research on a rocket, our years will be earth’s decades.
Hmmm…Have a great day.
Topics: Life |