Putting Relativity To The Test, NASA's Gravity Probe B To Reveale If Einstein Was Right

Stanford University ^ | 10/3/2005 | Bob Kahn

[Hyzenthlay]

That's exactly right. Something traveling at the speed of light is the only thing that doesn't apply to.

[RATkiller]

Bookmark

[inquest]

Thanks. What's new to me, though, is this talk of "moving space" (from #34). If space can move, does that mean that objects moving through space are moving relative to it?

[RightWhale]

Gravity is the vital link to the General Theory. Without gravity it is the Special Theory.

[inquest]

I should have pinged you to #43.

[Cvengr]

It's all relative...

[RightWhale]

Moving space, or the possibility of moving space, kind of puts a kink in my powers of vizualization. But, I suppose it must move if a star can bend it as it rotates about the center of the Milky Way.

[furball4paws]

Slow night in Dry Gulch.

[Moonman62]

Please, give me a break! This is a non-news story! Get back to me in 15 months! You know, there are a few things that I'm eagerly awaiting too, but, until they come to pass, I don't plan on making any announcments! Geeze!

First, this news was taken off the Stanford website, not a newswire. Second, to some of us the expansion of human knowledge is a big deal, and we've known about this mission for a long time. Third, it gives a chance to make Ted Kennedy jokes.

[HP8753]

No, massive bodies do.

So do massive heads.

John Kerry's head bends light that is shone through his ears.

[Moonman62]

I think NASA is doing a great job with the exception of the manned space program.

[JRios1968]

Except for the light that makes it through from one ear to the other, since it doesn't quite hit any brains along the way.

[KevinDavis]

[KevinDavis]

[phantomworker]

Thank you. This thread is mind blowing or mind expanding??... LOL

Reminds me of non-euclidean algebra for some reason...

[RightWingAtheist]

I thought that differential geometry had been developed years before by Gauss, Lobachevsky and Bolyai, and that it was Minkowski (ironically enough, Einstein's old teacher, and the one who infamously called him "lazy", resulting in one of the most persistent falsehoods surrounding the great man that he had been a poor student) who demonstrated its usefulness in explaining general relativity.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Southack]

Leonhard Euler (1707-1783)
was extremely prolific in a vast range of subjects, and founded mathematical analysis. He invented the idea of functions and used them to transform analytic into differential geometry investigating surfaces, curvature, and geodesics. He discovered (1752) that the well-known "Euler characteristic" (V-E+F) of a polyhedron depends only on the surface topology. Euler, Monge, and Gauss are considered the three fathers of differential geometry. He also made breakthroughs contributions to many other branches of math. A representative selection of his discoveries is given in Euler: The Master of Us All.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Levi-Cita

[Old_Mil]

Einstein is what I usually call a "20-lb brain" type. He, together with Stephen Hawking, have changed radically the nature of science in the last 10 years.

With all due respect, mentioning Hawking in the same breath with Einstein is sort of like comparing a high school marching band to the London Philharmonic.