Being a super genius sure is hard. You have all these great theorems about how gravity works and whatnot without the proper means to prove if they’re viable or bunk. In Einstein’s case, it wasn’t until recently — 56 years after his death — that technology finally caught up to the inner machinations of his astounding intellect.
NASA’s Gravity Probe B was recently able to prove correct two different aspects of Einstein’s theories on gravity: 1. the geodetic effect, and 2. frame dragging, the tests of which have been in the works for over 52 years. The first, the geodetic effect, concerns the warping of space and time around a gravitational body such as the Earth, while the second, frame-dragging, asserts that a spinning object pulls space and time with it as it rotates.
Using four highly-sensitive gyroscopes, Gravity Probe B pointed at a single star, IM Pegasi, while orbiting around Earth’s poles. The ultra-precise gyroscopes demonstrated measurable changes in their readings, thus proving Einstein’s two aspects to be correct.
Better late than never, I guess.
(via Phys Org)
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