<![CDATA[NASA – Space-time Vortex:
We’ll soon know the answer: A NASA/Stanford physics experiment called Gravity Probe B (GP-B) recently finished a year of gathering science data in Earth orbit. The results, which will take another year to analyze, should reveal the shape of space-time around Earth–and, possibly, the vortex.
Time and space, according to Einstein’s theories of relativity, are woven together, forming a four-dimensional fabric called “space-time.” The tremendous mass of Earth dimples this fabric, much like a heavy person sitting in the middle of a trampoline. Gravity, says Einstein, is simply the motion of objects following the curvaceous lines of the dimple.
Cool. Just cross your fingers that this is the existential Catch-22 that, once solved, ends time and space as we know it. Douglas Adams would enjoy these times.
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