gravitational time differentials

[ERCougar]

In my more believing days, I used to think this idea of light being everywhere at once was an obvious allusion to God, if physicists would only look at their own equations with an eye of faith--after all, this is how we explain that God (light) is omnipresent. Like many others who attempt to popularize/religionize scientific concepts (clack, I'm staring at you. ), I had it wrong.

I still think it's fun and kind of mind-blowing to think about.

EDIT: Just watched the Nova video that Uncle Ted linked. The description of gravity as a curve in space-time that I referred to above comes at about 7:00--it's good. Also, it shows exactly the problem with my light as God theory from my undergrad days, and what Ted didn't read in my initial post . The thought of light from its own inertial perspective is mind-blowing, but sort of meaningless because none of us are in that frame. And of course, when we make the claim that God is omnipresent, we're making it from our frame, one in which light (and information and gravitational waves, aka "event horizon") has a meaningful speed and lengths, distances, times, and masses matter. In other words, light (and God) is not omnipresent in our frame.

[smokymountainrain]

SoonerCoug crows about being an erudite scientist, but when we really need him, he's nowhere to be found.

speaks volumes.

[clackamascoug]

im waiting for clackamascoug to chime in on this one.

Regarding time and space; Creek posted this question at 3:25 pm yesterday, and I was on I-5 north by Weed, Ca traveling at 78 mph.

The easy answer is that time does not exist in a multiple dimension computation. Therefore God can have everything before him and be omnipresent. (all at the same time?) The thing that upsets me most regarding time, or the untruthfulness of time, is Red Shifting. An expanding linear movement of mass emanating from a epicenter fulcrum from which time can originate, and be measured, defeats the whole timeless attributes of God and infinity. And if the Universe ever gets to the point where expansion ends and contraction begins, the whole cycle of the Universe would certainly have a beginning and an ending, which would counter intuitive to Mr. Alpha and Omega which has no beginning and no end.

Unless there are "other" Universes which could house the keys to time and space while new construction is going on next door.

[wuapinmon]

Nothing with any mass at all can travel at the speed of light.

If something with mass increased to the speed of light, it's mass would be infinite, meaning the energy needed to make it move that fast would be infinite, exceeding the constant speed of light. Ergo, you are correct.

At least that's what I remember from physical science at the Y.


But, creekster, even if I were on a train moving at the speed of light (if such a thing were possible), and I walk from the back of the train to the front, while outside the vehicle is moving that fast, inside, relative to my position, I am moving 3 mph. While I am moving at the speed of light, it seems like a few months have passed, but relative to earth, it's been much longer.

So, when you walk from your house to the lawn. Meanwhile, this happens, but to us it feels like the same pace, but a clock in a ship in orbit would appear slower to us, but aboard that ship, it's moving at a normal pace.



So, when you start talking about vast distances, the faster you move, the slower time will appear to those not moving, but to those moving, it'll seem normal. The body responds to the space relative to where it is, not where it was. I'm probably muddling this a bit, but it's how I understood it. It also helped me make sense of the Ender novels.

[Green Monstah]

You need to watch more Nova...

(Also see the full https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BleB...eJ1rDJhmBdUj4g )

Spoiler for WTF Corn?:

What I want to know is why corn is the damn thing that they could grow on earth in this movie? Why corn? I hate corn.

Spoiler for Corn:

I thought they explained it in the movie: all the other crops had succombed to a series of blights

.

[ERCougar]

If something with mass increased to the speed of light, it's mass would be infinite, meaning the energy needed to make it move that fast would be infinite, exceeding the constant speed of light. Ergo, you are correct.

You're right that I'm right, but your reasoning is off. As something approaches the speed of light, its mass increases, until at the speed of light, its mass is infinite.

[Blueintheface]

[Green Monstah]

Back to the original question, I can see how movement/velocity makes time slower, but I'm still a little shaky on how gravity does it.

[wuapinmon]

You're right that I'm right, but your reasoning is off. As something approaches the speed of light, its mass increases, until at the speed of light, its mass is infinite.

I can't tell if you're talking about the Catholic Church or not.

[ERCougar]

Back to the original question, I can see how movement/velocity makes time slower, but I'm still a little shaky on how gravity does it.

You and the rest of anyone outside of the theoretical physics world.