Travel and Time Dilation
I wanted to talk about time travel, seeing as I was on a journey through time, but I find myself almost at the end and back in the folds of normality. I will try and separate my thoughts but as it is both 17:30pm and 01:30am I am not sure how much sense I will make. Add to this a terrible cold fuzzing up my thinking process.
First there is the obvious aspect of travel, that of time zones. I took off from London and travelled west against the turning of the earth at an altitude of 34,000 feet. This journey takes me into USA time zones that are effectively 9 hours in my past relative to me at the start of the flight. Every mile I travel takes me forward in time along with my home but it also takes me into the past. All relative, of course, but the point is that my causal domain begins to shear away from my loved ones. Little by little I drift into a new time.
Add to this the fact that I am travelling at 430 mph. The faster I go the slower my time frame moves relative to a stationary person. Theory of relativity will tell you the closer I approach to the speed of light the slower time will pass. Regardless of the time zones I begin to slow down as I travel, albeit by a miniscule fraction. ( Time dilation due to relative velocity )
Add to this my altitude and we have another aspect of causal shear. The higher I fly the slower time moves relative again to the ground. Again, this is a miniscule fraction but it all forms the fact that relative to my loved ones I drift into a new causal domain. ( Time dilation due to gravity )
So not only am I moving into a new place on the globe, where the sun hits the ground differently and thus effects how everyone goes about their business, I have slowed down in time. I take off at 20:00 and the flight takes 10 hours, but it is not the same amount of time for people waiting for me back home. It is ever so slightly longer.
Now the act of returning home cannot undo the time distortion, I have to adapt and re-synch myself to local time. I believe this is known as Jet Lag.
First there is the obvious aspect of travel, that of time zones. I took off from London and travelled west against the turning of the earth at an altitude of 34,000 feet. This journey takes me into USA time zones that are effectively 9 hours in my past relative to me at the start of the flight. Every mile I travel takes me forward in time along with my home but it also takes me into the past. All relative, of course, but the point is that my causal domain begins to shear away from my loved ones. Little by little I drift into a new time.
Add to this the fact that I am travelling at 430 mph. The faster I go the slower my time frame moves relative to a stationary person. Theory of relativity will tell you the closer I approach to the speed of light the slower time will pass. Regardless of the time zones I begin to slow down as I travel, albeit by a miniscule fraction. ( Time dilation due to relative velocity )
Add to this my altitude and we have another aspect of causal shear. The higher I fly the slower time moves relative again to the ground. Again, this is a miniscule fraction but it all forms the fact that relative to my loved ones I drift into a new causal domain. ( Time dilation due to gravity )
So not only am I moving into a new place on the globe, where the sun hits the ground differently and thus effects how everyone goes about their business, I have slowed down in time. I take off at 20:00 and the flight takes 10 hours, but it is not the same amount of time for people waiting for me back home. It is ever so slightly longer.
Now the act of returning home cannot undo the time distortion, I have to adapt and re-synch myself to local time. I believe this is known as Jet Lag.
posted by Mobius Engineer at
14:58:00
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