YOUR BIOLOGICAL CLOCK
Added on: 3rd Oct 2016
STEPHEN HAWKING HAS ADDRESSED A
CONNECTION BETWEEN TIME AND THE
BIG BANG TOO. IN A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME
AND ELSEWHERE, HAWKING SAYS THAT EVEN
IF TIME DID NOT BEGIN WITH THE BIG BANG
AND THERE WAS ANOTHER TIME FRAME
BEFORE THE BIG BANG, NO INFORMATION
FROM EVENTS THEN WOULD BE ACCESSIBLE
TO US, AND NOTHING THAT HAPPENED THEN
WOULD HAVE ANY EFFECT ON THE PRESENT
TIME FRAME. ON OCCASION, HAWKING HAS
STATED THAT TIME ACTUALLY BEGAN WITH
THE BIG BANG, AND THAT QUESTIONS ABOUT
WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE THE BIG BANG
ARE MEANINGLESS
CULTURAL BACKGROUND AFFECTS OUR
PERCEPTION OF TIME. PSYCHOLOGIST
ROBERT LEVINE NOTED IN HIS TRAVELS
HOW PEOPLE FROM THE MIDDLE EAST
APPEARED TO CONSTRUE TIME DIFFERENTLY
FROM WESTERNERS. AMERICANS AND
EUROPEANS THINK OF TIME IN FIVE MINUTE
INTERVALS USUALLY, WHILE THE MIDDLE
EASTERN EQUIVALENT IS THE FIFTEEN
MINUTE INTERVAL. WHAT THIS MEANS IN THE
REAL WORLD, IS THAT WESTERNERS WHO WAIT
ON A FRIEND FOR FIVE MINUTES (ONE INTERVAL)
AND MIDDLE EASTERNERS WHO WAIT FIFTEEN
MINUTES (ONE INTERVAL) ARE ACTUALLY
WAITING THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME!
BECAUSE LIGHT TAKES TIME TO REACH US, THE
LIGHT WE SEE IS IN THE PAST. THE SUNLIGHT
YOU CAN SEE OUT THE WINDOW IS EIGHT MINUTES
AND TWENTY SECONDS OLD. THE LIGHT FROM
OUR NEAREST STAR, PROXIMA CENTAURI, IS
FOUR YEARS OLD
DUE TO TIDAL FRICTION FROM THE SUN AND
MOON, THE SOLAR DAY IS LENGTHENING BY 1.7
MILLISECONDS EACH CENTURY AS THE EARTH’S
ROTATION SLOWS DOWN. IN OTHER WORDS,
TIME ON EARTH IS ACTUALLY SLOWING DOWN
LIKE ALL GOOD THINGS IN LIFE, TIME WILL END
ONE DAY AS WELL. PHYSICISTS HAVE CALCULATED
THAT TIME IS LIKELY TO END WITHIN THE NEXT
FOUR BILLION YEARS DUE TO A CATASTROPHE
THAT NO ONE ALIVE AT THE TIME WILL WITNESS
TIME MOVES FASTER IN THE SKY. THIS HAPPENS
BECAUSE THE DENSER THE GRAVITATIONAL
FIELD, THE SLOWER THE PASSAGE OF TIME.
THIS MEANS THAT A SECOND AT LOWER
ALTITUDES IS ACTUALLY NANOSECONDS LONGER
THAN A SECOND AT HIGHER ALTITUDES, FOR
EXAMPLE, WHEN YOU FLY ON AN AIRPLANE
A NEW STUDY PUBLISHED IN NATURE PHYSICS
APPEARS TO SHOW THAT TIME IN FACT MAY
MOVE BACKWARD AND THINGS MAY EXIST IN
MULTIPLE STATES. WHAT COULD THIS MEAN?
THE FUTURE CAN AFFECT AND CHANGE THE PAST
LASTLY, KEEP IN MIND THAT THERE’S NO
SUCH THING AS “NOW” AS FAR AS PHYSICS IS
CONCERNED. SPACE AND TIME ARE FLUID,
AFFECTED BY GRAVITY AND YOUR SPEED.
EINSTEIN PUT IT LIKE THIS: “FOR US PHYSICISTS,
THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN PAST, PRESENT
AND FUTURE IS ONLY AN ILLUSION,
HOWEVER PERSISTENT.”
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