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Universe May Be Running Out of Time

Posted by Zonk on from the ticking-clock dept.

RenHoek writes "With heat death, the big crunch and quite a few other nasty ways in which the universe could see its demise, we can now add "running out of time" to the list. A team of scientists came up with a new theory that would solve the problem of the elusive dark energy that seems to be accelerating the expansion of the universe. They figure that the universe is not speeding up but we are, in relation to the outer regions of space, slowing down. Tests with the upcoming Large Hadron Collider will give more insight if we're going to end up frozen in time."

2 of 343 comments (clear)

  1. er...define 'constant'... by Quadraginta · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The problem with TFA is that it makes little logical sense. In what possible sense can time be "slowing down?" "Slowing down" is a statement that something is changing less per unit time. If you like, that dx/dt is negative.

    But how can you measure the "rate" at which time itself is changing? If "change in time" (dt) is going to go in the numerator, what will go in the denominator? Can't be dt, of course. So how do you define the "rate" at which time changes? I can't think of anything. It's like asking the price of money. "Price" means "how much you get per unit money." You can't ask how much money you get per unit money. (Note to nitpickers: the price of currency, e.g. the price of dollars in drachma, is not a valid counterexample.)

    I'm sure the physics makes sense, but the language in this news article does not. If anyone knows what the actual science is, I at least would be grateful for a better explanation than this news article provides. Anyone?

    1. Re:er...define 'constant'... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I can see where you're confused. Actually the price of money *is* a good analogy. How much does a dollar cost? Depends on what you compare it to. Could be x yen or y pounds. Experiments demonstrate that the speed of light is a constant, and since speed = distance/time, time and space must warp accordingly. So what goes in the numerator? Basically, your calculus ratio should be something like dt(here)/dt(there) where 'here' and 'there' are different points in space and/or different inertial frames. Hope this helps.