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Can Time Slow Down?
Ponca City, We Love You writes "Does time slow down when you are in a traffic accident or other life threatening crisis like Neo dodging bullets in slow-motion in The Matrix? To find out, researchers developed a perceptual chronometer where numbers flickered on the screen of a watch-like unit. The scientists adjusted the speed at which the numbers flickered until it was too fast for the subjects to see. Then subjects were put in a Suspended Catch Air Device, a controlled free-fall system in which 'divers' are dropped backwards off a platform 150 feet up and land safely in a net. Subjects were asked to read the numbers on the perceptual chronometer as they fell [video]. The bottom line: While subjects could read numbers presented at normal speeds during the free-fall, they could not read them at faster-than-normal speeds. 'We discovered that people are not like Neo in The Matrix,' Eagleman said. 'The answer to the paradox is that time estimation and memory are intertwined: the volunteers merely thought the fall took a longer time in retrospect'."
damn you agent smith, no wait, damn you oracle...no wait....damn you all!
*shakes* fist
Donald Ray Moore Jr. (mindrape)
Suspected Terrorist
Long answer: Noooooooooooooooooooooooo
I remember reading this here a year or 2 back.
What a stupid question. Of course it can. Ever had to sit through 3 meetings in a row?
Turns a matter of hours into a matter of weeks.
Skiffy is Spiffy, but Ort is tort.
...if I believe that conclusion. When I was browsing on Slashdot one April, and everything turned pink and ponyish, I swear that day lasted several months, at least.
I question the testing method. It should include subjects sitting in a cubicle after 4:30pm on a Friday.
In an effort to conform with internet communication standards, please note that the above comment is 100% biased opinion
An even more interesting question is who paid for this study. I have a bridge to sell them.
Clearly, I'm writing grants for the wrong kind of research. This would be one hell of a lot more fun than playing with infectious diseases.
I just tried it. People lie to you.
"When I first heard Daydream Nation it quite frankly scared the living shit out of me." -- Matthew Stearns
Time itself does not slow down
Ahh, but it can. Crank up that falling airplane to near the speed of light. Before it hits the ground, we all will be one second older than the occupants.
That's why I can type all this and then hit
And then I get this message!
Slow Down Cowboy!
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Exactly. I suggest strapping chronometers to people's windshields and involving them in accidents without asking them.
Don't thank me, my boss mandates slashdot breaks every few hours so that we don't get burned out.
Um, no. Though the time is takes to open a bag of Doritos does seem to expand to approximately infinity, for some reason.
I was taught to respect my elders. The trouble is, it's getting harder and harder to find some.
In truth, time is an illusion...
Lunch time, doubly so.
All I want is a kind word, a warm bed and unlimited power.
At speed of light (or near) by the time we age one second the plane will have already buried itself into the ground killing all occupants. So you're right, we'd be one second older, but mostly because they'd be dead. So time doesn't really slow down, death speeds up. Your argument fails.
"Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional."
The tape player wasn't broken. Time really did slow down just for you and the universe was just trying to catch up so you didn't cause a time-warp.
"Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional."
I have a problem with the heliocentric UNIVERSE!
Next time I go to a soccer game, I'm definitely inviting you along. However, I'll be the one doing the driving.
Unless the plane is over soviet russia.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.