Einstein's theories put to the test
Albert Einstein created the theory of relativity
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Tuesday, 17, Apr 2007 04:36
Part of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity has been proved to be correct, scientists claim.
For the past three years a satellite has been circling Earth to collect data to determine whether two of his predictions relating to this theory are right.
These predictions were that two effects take place on Earth; the first, known as geodetic, is the amount by which the mass of our planet warps the local space time it is in, and the second - known as frame-dragging - is the amount by which the rotating Earth drags local space-time around with it.
Einstein argued that, according to his theory, the warping of Earth's local space time causes the spin axis of each gyroscope (devices measuring orientation) to shift from its initial position by a miniscule angle of 6.606 arc-seconds (0.0018 degrees).
Speaking at a meeting of the American Physical Society, scientists claim that data from the satellite, part of the gravity probe B (GP-B) relativity mission, confirm Einstein's predicted geodetic effect to a precision of better than one per cent.
However Einstein's predicted frame-dragging effect is still being analysed using GP-B's data.
"Understanding the details of this science data is a bit like an archaeological dig," said Bencze, GP-B programme manager.
"A scientist starts with a bulldozer, follows with a shovel, and then finally uses dental picks and toothbrushes to clear the dust away from the treasure. We are passing out the toothbrushes now."
Professor Francis Everitt, a Stanford University physicist and principal investigator of the GP-B relativity mission, added: "It's fascinating to be able to watch the Einstein warping of space-time directly in the tilting of these GP-B gyroscopes - more than a million times better than the best inertial navigation gyroscopes."