Einstein Time Traveler Game

http://www.a1-computer-media.com/i2oob-games

Excerpts from the PBS site:

One of Albert Einstein's greatest insights was realizing that time is relative. It speeds up or slows down depending on how fast one thing is moving relative to something else.

How much does it change? In this Shockwave Plugin, one "Captain Ein" and "Major Stein" have volunteered to help you find out.

Send Captain Ein on a round-trip journey to a star and then compare her age with Major Stein's on Earth!

This is a really cool example of Time Travel and the time differences possible. In doubt? This was proven in 1971. Scientists used these clocks to test Einstein's ideas. One atomic clock was set up on the ground, while another was sent around the world on a jet traveling at 600 mph. At the start, both clocks showed exactly the same time.

What happened when the clock flown around the world returned to the spot where the other clock was? As Einstein had predicted in a general way, the clocks no longer showed the same time—the clock on the jet was behind by a few billionths of a second.

Why such a small difference? Well, 600 mph is fast but still just the tiniest fraction of the speed of light. To see any significant differences in time, you'd have to be traveling many millions of miles an hour faster.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Time
• Travel
• Einstein
• Space
• Light
• Years
• Age