Velocity and Aging

[The Edge]

There once was an experiment involving two clocks. Think Back to the Future here. They were perfectly in sync with each other. One stayed in its location, and the other went on a plane that circled the globe. When they were brought back together, they were no longer in sync.

Given that the closer you come to the speed of light, the slower you experience time.... if we were to someday colonize other planets, would the people living on them age slower/faster depending on the planets orbital velocity?

Could you wind up reaching old age before your parents, or live twice as long as a person on Earth?

[Hachima]

No to living "twice as long", to the individual time is always constant. Relative to other people you may have aged at a different rate though.

[Brigandier]

The effects of gravity on your body on other planets would also play a factor.

[Hachima]

Living in a sterile environment would play a factor. Food available on said planet ship. Murder rate on said planet. Tons of environmental factors that would have an effect on life span.

Nothing at all as far as how fast you age relative to some other planet/ship though.

[The Edge]

Originally Posted by Hachima

No to living "twice as long", to the individual time is always constant. Relative to other people you may have aged at a different rate though.

That's kind of what I'm getting at. "Twice as long" is just a comparison. I know the person experiences everything the same regardless.

To help clarify, if you were a twin, and your brother stayed on Earth, and you moved to a planet that had a very fast orbit, is it possible that your brother would live and die (let's say 85 years on Earth) while you on your planet have only aged to your 50s from his point of view?

[The Edge]

Originally Posted by Hachima

Living in a sterile environment would play a factor. Food available on said planet ship. Murder rate on said planet. Tons of environmental factors that would have an effect on life span.

Nothing at all as far as how fast you age relative to some other planet/ship though.

Take away all that from the equation. Everything is equal except for individual velocity.

[Erumaron]

Pretty sure time doesn't work like that buddy.

[Phoenix]

Going faster doesnt slow your experience of time down, it slows down in relation to everything around you.

[Malakriss]

It's a medical fact that everything that can prolong your life is butt-fucking expensive. Therefore, spending the majority of your life at high velocity travel must increase your lifespan. The fastest cars are something only the rich can afford, oil prices to fuel those vehicles are skyrocketing, and everyone knows that the best NASCAR racers will live forever.

[Kevincheese]

Someone hasn't read much science fiction.

[Zeste]

Originally Posted by Erumaron

Pretty sure time doesn't work like that buddy.

Actually, modern scientists think it does. Einstein talked about both, how your velocity can change the way time bends, and also your proximity to a gravitational well.

Given that the closer you come to the speed of light, the slower you experience time.... if we were to someday colonize other planets, would the people living on them age slower/faster depending on the planets orbital velocity?

From an outside perspective - maybe. But you have to remember that any means of observation would also be affected, meaning sight, sound, radio waves, would all "age" as they passed through the frame dragging effect of the gravitational pull of the planet. So there wouldn't really be any way to know other than making the assumptions first and then see if there is any evidence of it once you're on the planet.

[T-rex]

do you think it might be RELATIVE?

[spronk]

The entire GPS system has automatic corrections in it to account for time dilation affects. Every time you fly a commercial airline you "gain" some time because you are so high up and flying at a certain velocity.

Unfortunately the affects are minimal. Its like less than a nanosecond for an airplane flight. You have to approach speeds near light speed to achieve non-trivial time dilation effects.

The faster you go the weirder shit gets though - for example if there was a propulsion system that could accelerate you at 1g constantly (beyond our tech atm), after a few years you'd be close to light. Within a few dozen years you'd actually be outside our galaxy. Within under 100 years I think you'd actually be at the edges of the universe. If you could somehow turn around and come back, after 200 years over 20 BILLION YEARS would have passed. The numbers may be a bit off but its absolutely astronomical how ridiculous things get the closer you get to light speed.

But no flying around in an airplane or a rocket jet or whatever won't do shit, they travel at 500-1,000 mph and you need to be closer to 186,000 mph. Can't fly close to light speed tho near solar systems, radiation will kill you or a tiny grain of sand or anything else impacting at light speed will be one painfully fast bullet.

[Erumaron]

Originally Posted by Zeste

Actually, modern scientists think it does. Einstein talked about both, how your velocity can change the way time bends, and also your proximity to a gravitational well.

Yea I'm aware...but the OP is all excited about things that definitely aren't possible in the ways he's describing. He's thinking down an exciting road though. I remember when I first started to get into physics and it's good times. Just needs to read a little more. The Walter Lewin lectures up on youtube are a great place to start I'd imagine.

[Burf]

Might I recommend: Amazon.com: The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory: Brian Greene: Books