theory of relativity
Latest
Scientists confirm the basis of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity
Astrophysics measured a pulsar to prove Einstein's equivalence principle.
CERN admits faulty kit to blame for speedy neutrinos, says it's all relative
Those pesky neutrinos, they sure did cause a kerfuffle. The scientific community held its collective breath when research published by CERN suggested that the little guys had been caught traveling at an Einstein-defying 3.7 miles per second faster than light. Naturally there was a mixture of doubt and excited disbelief, but everything needed to be triple checked before any paradigms could meet any windows. And alas, it was all to unravel once flaws were identified. CERN has finally admitted faulty kit was to blame, with it's research director Sergio Bertolucci conceding "A coherent picture has emerged with both previous and new data pointing to a neutrino velocity consistent with the speed of light." The final chapter in this story took place at the International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics in Kyoto today, with Bertolucci also commenting that, at the very least, the story captured the public imagination, pointing out that "An unexpected result was put up for scrutiny, thoroughly investigated and resolved in part thanks to collaboration between normally competing experiments. That's how science moves forward." [Image credit: Getty Images]
Remember those faster-than-light neutrinos? Great, now forget 'em
A week ago the world went wild over CERN's tentative claim that it could make neutrinos travel faster than light. Suddenly, intergalactic tourism and day trips to the real Jurassic Park were back on the menu, despite everything Einstein said. Now, however, a team of scientists at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands reckons it's come up with a more plausible (and disappointing) explanation of what happened: the GPS satellites used to measure the departure and arrival times of the racing neutrinos were themselves subject to Einsteinian effects, because they were in motion relative to the experiment. This relative motion wasn't properly taken into account, but it would have decreased the neutrinos' apparent journey time. The Dutch scientists calculated the error and came up with the 64 nanoseconds. Sound familiar? That's because it's almost exactly the margin by which CERN's neutrinos were supposed to have beaten light. So, it's Monday morning, Alpha Centauri and medieval jousting tournaments remain as out of reach as ever, and we just thought we'd let you know.
Galaxy cluster research supports Einstein's Theory of Relativity on a cosmic level
In one small win for Einstein, one giant win for mankind, scientists at the Niels Bohr Institute have proved his General Theory of Relativity on a cosmic scale through their research of large galaxy clusters. Accordingly, the clusters -- which are the largest known gravity-bound objects -- have such a strong pull that they should cause light to "redshift," or proportionally increase in wavelength, shifting towards the red end of the visible spectrum. To test it, researchers measured beams from 8,000 clusters, revealing that they do indeed cause a change in light's wavelength, supporting Einstein's theory to a T. One good turn deserves another, right Albert? Armchair cosmologists can hop on over to the source link to learn more.
NASA concludes Gravity Probe B space-time experiment, proves Einstein really was a genius
Well, it looks like Einstein knew what he was talking about, after all. Earlier this week, researchers at NASA and Stanford released the findings from their six-year Gravity Probe B (GP-B) mission, launched to test Einstein's general theory of relativity. To do so, engineers strapped the GP-B satellite with four ultra-precise gyroscopes to measure two pillars of the theory: the geodetic effect (the bending of space and time around a gravitational body) and frame dragging (the extent to which rotating bodies drag space and time with them as they spin on their axes). As they circled the Earth in polar orbit, the GP-B's gyroscopes were pointed squarely at the IM Pegasi guide star, while engineers observed their behavior. In the universe outlined by Einstein's theories, space and time are interwoven to create a four-dimensional web, atop which the Earth and other planetary bodies sit. The Earth's mass, he argued, creates a vortex in this web, implying that all objects orbiting the planet would follow the general curvature of this dimple. If the Earth's gravity had no effect on space and time, then, the position of NASA's gyroscopes would have remained unchanged throughout the orbit. Ultimately, though, researchers noticed small, but quantifiable changes in their spin as they made their way around the globe -- changes that corroborated Einstein's theory. Francis Everitt, a Stanford physicist and principal investigator for the mission, poetically explained the significance of the findings, in a statement: "Imagine the Earth as if it were immersed in honey. As the planet rotated its axis and orbited the Sun, the honey around it would warp and swirl, and it's the same with space and time. GP-B confirmed two of the most profound predictions of Einstein's universe, having far-reaching implications across astrophysics research. Likewise, the decades of technological innovation behind the mission will have a lasting legacy on Earth and in space." The GP-B mission was originally conceived more than 50 years ago, when the technology required to realize the experiment still didn't exist. In fact, the experiment didn't actually get off the ground until 2004, when the satellite was launched into orbit 400 miles above Earth. After spending just one year collecting data (and an impressive five years analyzing the information), NASA has finally confirmed something we always quietly suspected: Einstein was smart. Head past the break to see a more in-depth diagram of how the GP-B gathered its data.
Universe expansion: dark energy's out, anti-gravity's in, matter and antimatter still can't get along
Dark energy, we barely knew you, but before we ever found out if you were, in fact, the invisible hand pushing the cosmos apart, an Italian scientist ginned up a new theory that has anti-gravity doing the Yoko Ono to the universe's merry band of galaxies. Massimo Villata's theory assumes that both matter and antimatter have positive mass and energy density, which gets particles attracting particles and antiparticles attracting antiparticles through the force of gravity. To give dark matter the heave-ho from the galactic expansion equation, Villata supposes that the theory of general relativity applies in reverse to antimatter particles to create anti-gravity. And just as gravity pulls particles together, anti-gravity shoves them apart -- giving the universe its burgeoning waistline, no clown, king, or colonel required.
