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Einstein's Theory Passes Strict New Test

Posted by timothy on from the ha-ha-england-ha-ha dept.

FiReaNGeL writes with an excerpt from a story at e! Science News: "Taking advantage of a unique cosmic configuration, astronomers have measured an effect predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of General Relativity in the extremely strong gravity of a pair of superdense neutron stars. Essentially, the famed physicist's 93-year-old theory passed yet another test. Scientists at McGill University used the National Science Foundation's Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) to do a four-year study of a double-star system unlike any other known in the Universe. The system is a pair of neutron stars, both of which are seen as pulsars that emit lighthouse-like beams of radio waves."

7 of 243 comments (clear)

  1. Re:For us plebs... by CDMA_Demo · · Score: 5, Informative

    in summary:

    1. GE says two objects can cause a wobble in each other's axes due to gravity
    2. Measurement of this wobble wasn't possible earlier
    3. With this star system, since they are massive and pulsate, and that they are aligned in a manner that makes a measurement possible, astronomers took the plunge
    4. Prof...proved.

  2. Laws and Theories by Morosoph · · Score: 4, Informative
    Law doesn't mean "confirmed theory", but is rather an element of a theory, typically characterised by its simplicity.

    Consider, as examples, Newton's laws of motion, or the laws of thermodynamics. Newton's theory of motion is deduced from his laws; the conventional theory of thermodynamics, likewise.

    I say this because there are plenty of non-scientists who deliberately attempt to exploit confusion induced by popular use of the terms "law" and "theory" so as to imply that scientific theories, notably the theory of evolution, are held tentatively.

    --
    Wikileaks, no DNS
  3. Re:It's a shame really by Mr.+Flibble · · Score: 4, Informative

    Some time ago, I took a "History of Science" course. My memory is fuzzy around the dates, but originally, anything in science was granted the term "law". IIRC, "Caloric Theory" which was superseded by the theory of heat and thermodynamics was originally called a "law".

    Around the 1700's, it was decided to call all new science a "Theory". In deference to previous conventions, the things still held over previously known as laws retained the name. Hence the apparent difference between the two terms.

    --
    Try to hack my 31337 firewall!
  4. Re:And that, boys and girls, by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Informative

    You do realize that is what they're doing, right? They're looking out into the Universe for ways to test the theory against real live data.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  5. hypothesis - 1 of 4 scientific terms by MyNymWasTaken · · Score: 5, Informative

    The word you are searching for is hypothesis.

    There are 4 terms that need to be understood in the realm of science - hypothesis, theory, law & fact. They are all separate & distinct, except for the only progression that occurs - hypothesis => theory.

    A fact is what has been carefully observed.
    A law describes that observation.
    A hypothesis is a proposal intended to explain that observation.
    A theory seeks to explain that observation & has been confirmed by considerable evidence and has endured all attempts to disprove it.

    example:

    Fact
    Objects fall at the same rate regardless of mass.

    Law
    http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/GBSSCI/PHYS/Class/circles/u6l3c1.gif

    Hypothesis => Theory
    Mass causes a curvature of spacetime which creates the effect of gravity.

    1. Re:hypothesis - 1 of 4 scientific terms by Ardeaem · · Score: 5, Informative

      The parent is not quite right.

      An observation is some type of measurement. We could call this a fact if we like, but observation is better because is acknowledges the role of the observer in a way that "fact" does not.

      A law is some invariance across multiple observations. See, for instance, Kepler's laws. (They do not, as the parent says, "describe" observations, but rather they postulate invariant aspects of planetary motion)

      A hypothesis is a testable prediction based on naturalistic explanation of lawful behavior, typically of smaller scope than a theory and untested or weakly tested. Theories can also lead to hypotheses, through logical implication (ie, "my theory predicts that X, therefore I hypothesize X will occur in this experiment")

      A theory is a unified, parsimonious, testable, naturalistic explanation for entire sets of laws. For instance, Newton's theory of mechanics explained all of Kepler's laws of planetary motion, and lawful behavior on earth as well.

      Observation: These objects that I have dropped all appear to fall at the same rate regardless of mass, within measurement error

      Law: All objects fall at the same rate regardless of mass

      Hypothesis and theory Newton's theory of mechanics, or Einstein's theory of relativity

  6. Re:For us plebs... by Raenex · · Score: 5, Informative

    Now THAT is a summary

    Actually I recommend reading the article. It's short, understandable, and contains other cool facts about these neutron stars.

    Also, as for that last "proved" bit, the article ends with:

    "It's not quite right to say that we have now 'proven' General Relativity," Breton said. "However, so far, Einstein's theory has passed all the tests that have been conducted, including ours."