Post by DrGadget on Apr 27, 2007 12:41:20 GMT -5
The team working on the mission have demonstrated the so-called geodetic effect, the amount by which the Earth's mass distorts local space time.
So far, the figures are fairly broad brush, but the scientists say by the end of the year they expect to have significantly refined their results.
Einstein described both the geodetic effect and a phenomenon known as frame-dragging, which is the amount by which the rotating Earth drags the local space-time along with it as it spins, in his general theory of relativity.
www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/17/einstein_clever_bloke/
This is a preliminary report on mapping out the local space-time continuum. Proving Einstein right is OK, but I’m still waiting for the useful application portion of this experiment.
So far, the figures are fairly broad brush, but the scientists say by the end of the year they expect to have significantly refined their results.
Einstein described both the geodetic effect and a phenomenon known as frame-dragging, which is the amount by which the rotating Earth drags the local space-time along with it as it spins, in his general theory of relativity.
www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/17/einstein_clever_bloke/
This is a preliminary report on mapping out the local space-time continuum. Proving Einstein right is OK, but I’m still waiting for the useful application portion of this experiment.
