Albert Einstein wins again. A new study has confirmed another prediction of his theory of [--1--]. The corroboration appears online in the journal Physical Review Letters. [Francis Everitt et al., citation to come.]

Einstein’s theory recognizes that massive objects warp the [--2--] of space and time. If the theory is true, then the Earth should stretch the spacetime in which it sits, like a bowling ball would deform a trampoline. What’s more, the Earth’s [--3--] should also produce a drag on local spacetime, like a marble spinning in molasses would pull the goop around it.

To measure these minor [--4--], scientists sent four gyroscopes into space in a mission called Gravity Probe B. And they found that after circling the Earth some 5000 times the gyroscopes’ angle of spin had changed, ever-so-slightly, in response to the Earth’s gravitational pull. Which proves that the old man was right.

Gravity Probe B was first [--5--] in 1959. [1976 paper envisioning the experimental setup] And the technology created to make the mission fly has been applied in work on the big bang theory—the real theory, not the TV show—and in GPS. Which Einstein would have loved. Because even a genius can get lost on the highway.
【視聽版科學(xué)小組榮譽出品】
general relativity very fabric rotation deformations conceived
自轉(zhuǎn)的地球也能產(chǎn)生時空扭曲？ 一項新的研究再次驗證愛因斯坦的另一個廣義相對論的預(yù)言。此研究結(jié)果發(fā)表在《物理評論快報》網(wǎng)絡(luò)版上。 愛因斯坦的理論指出巨大的物體會對息息相關(guān)的時間和空間產(chǎn)生扭曲。如果該理論正確，那么，就像是一個處在彈簧墊的保齡球會使它周圍的彈簧墊產(chǎn)生形變一樣，地球應(yīng)該也能扭曲它所處的時空。而且，自轉(zhuǎn)的地球也會對周圍的時空產(chǎn)生一個拽引力，就像一顆彈珠在糖漿中旋轉(zhuǎn)可以帶動它周圍的液體。 為了測量這些微小的時空形變，科學(xué)家將4個回轉(zhuǎn)儀送至太空執(zhí)行代號為“重力探針B”行動。結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，在圍繞地球旋轉(zhuǎn)大概5000次后，回轉(zhuǎn)儀的旋轉(zhuǎn)角度在地球的重力拖動作用下發(fā)生了十分微小的改變，這也驗證了愛因斯坦的理論。 “重力探針B”在1959年首次被提出，直至1976年才付諸實現(xiàn)。為完成此次飛行任務(wù)，許多為驗證宇宙大爆炸（理論研究，不是電視秀節(jié)目）和GPS技術(shù)也應(yīng)用到其中，而這些技術(shù)也是愛因斯坦所青睞的---因為這位天才偶爾也會在高速路上迷路。