We think of relativity’s effects on time as occurring at near light speeds or in the presence of crushing gravitational fields. But new atomic clock experiments show the pace of time changes at everyday speeds and heights – when you ride a bicycle or climb a stepladder.
Einstein’s theory of relativity shattered the notion that time runs at the same rate for everyone, everywhere in the universe. Instead it predicts that time slows down in a gravitational field, making clocks run a little slower on Earth’s surface than in deep space.
It also predicts time is skewed by velocity differences between observers, giving rise to the so-called twin paradox. A twin who returns from a journey in a fast-moving spacecraft will have aged much less then the twin who stayed home.
Einstein’s theory of relativity shattered the notion that time runs at the same rate for everyone, everywhere in the universe. Instead it predicts that time slows down in a gravitational field, making clocks run a little slower on Earth’s surface than in deep space.
It also predicts time is skewed by velocity differences between observers, giving rise to the so-called twin paradox. A twin who returns from a journey in a fast-moving spacecraft will have aged much less then the twin who stayed home.
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