Relatively straightforward.In "Realistic Time Machine? New design could forgo exotic ingredient" (SN: 7/16/05, p. 38), you refer to a standard concept of a person speeding "in a rocket traveling slightly less than the speed of light" and say that "motion at such enormous speeds drastically dras·tic adj. 1. Severe or radical in nature; extreme: the drastic measure of amputating the entire leg; drastic social change brought about by the French Revolution. 2. slows the clock for the traveler." That reasoning, which is common, troubles me. If the traveler is traveling speedily speed·y adj. speed·i·er, speed·i·est 1. Characterized by rapid motion; swift. 2. Accomplished or arrived at without delay; prompt. See Synonyms at fast1. with respect to an observer, then, clearly, the observer is traveling speedily with respect to the traveler (who is observing the observer). Since all motion is relative, why shouldn't the observer's clock slow down as observed by the traveler? ARRA AVKAIN, FRESNO, CALIF. The difference is subtle, but it's because the traveler changes direction--turning around is a form of acceleration--that less time passes for that voyager Voyager, airplane Voyager, the first airplane to circumnavigate the earth nonstop on a single load of fuel. Designed by Burt Rutan and flown by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, Voyager took off from California on Dec. than for the observer.--P. WEISS WEISS Workshop on Industrial Experience with Systems Software |
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