Is Earth In A Vortex Of Space-Time?

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gravity-05r.html

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.

If Earth were stationary, that would be the end of the story. But Earth is not
stationary. Our planet spins, and the spin should twist the dimple, slightly,
pulling it around into a 4-dimensional swirl. This is what GP-B went to space to
check

The idea behind the experiment is simple:

Put a spinning gyroscope into orbit around the Earth, with the spin axis pointed
toward some distant star as a fixed reference point. Free from external forces,
the gyroscope's axis should continue pointing at the star--forever. But if space
is twisted, the direction of the gyroscope's axis should drift over time. By
noting this change in direction relative to the star, the twists of space-time
could be measured.

In practice, the experiment is tremendously difficult.

The four gyroscopes in GP-B are the most perfect spheres ever made by humans.
These ping pong-sized balls of fused quartz and silicon are 1.5 inches across
and never vary from a perfect sphere by more than 40 atomic layers. If the
gyroscopes weren't so spherical, their spin axes would wobble even without the
effects of relativity.

According to calculations, the twisted space-time around Earth should cause the
axes of the gyros to drift merely 0.041 arcseconds over a year. An arcsecond is
1/3600th of a degree. To measure this angle reasonably well, GP-B needed a
fantastic precision of 0.0005 arcseconds. It's like measuring the thickness of a
*** of paper held edge-on 100 miles away.

GP-B researchers invented whole new technologies to make this possible. They
developed a "drag free" satellite that could brush against the outer layers of
Earth's atmosphere without disturbing the gyros. They figured out how to keep
Earth's penetrating magnetic field out of the spacecraft. And they concocted a
device to measure the spin of a gyro--without touching the gyro.

Pulling off the experiment was an exceptional challenge. A lot of time and money
was on the line, but the GP-B scientists appear to have done it.

"There were not any major surprises" in the experiment's performance, says
physics professor Francis Everitt, the Principal Investigator for GP-B at
Stanford University. Now that data-taking is complete, he says the mood among
the GP-B scientists is "a lot of enthusiasm, and a realization also that a lot
of grinding hard work is ahead of us."

A careful, thorough analysis of the data is underway. The scientists will do it
in three stages, Everitt explains. First, they will look at the data from each
day of the year-long experiment, checking for irregularities. Next they'll break
the data into roughly month-long chunks, and finally they'll look at the whole
year. By doing it this way, the scientists should be able to find any problems
that a more simple analysis might miss.

Eventually scientists around the world will scrutinize the data. Says Everitt,
"we want our sternest critics to be us."

The stakes are high. If they detect the vortex, precisely as expected, it simply
means that Einstein was right, again. But what if they don't? There might be a
flaw in Einstein's theory, a tiny discrepancy that heralds a revolution in
physics.

First, though, there are a lot of data to analyze. Stay tuned.

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gravity-05r.html

There you are Al, another science story for you.

And for the *abuser* there is also:

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gravity-05q.html

Einstein's Relativity Theory Proven With The 'Lead' Of A Pencil
Manchester, UK (SPX) Nov 10, 2005
Scientists at The University of Manchester have discovered a new way to test
Einstein's theory of relativity using the 'lead' of a pencil.



Alan

http://www.veloceraptor.free-online.co.uk/enigma.html

http://veloceraptor.blogspot.com/
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