YOUR BIOLOGICAL CLOCK

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.”