The way we observe time and space is a human perception and mental construct that helps us perceive and understand things around us. German physicist Albert Einstein said that time is relative and can work in different ways depending on the frame of reference.; For example, if you were to travel to Mars at near the speed of light, time would flow much slower for you than for someone who is ‘stationary’ on Earth.
In fact, researchers have shown that time does not exist as we perceive it; Our brains were originally developed to create linear time with a beginning, middle and end. Scientist, astronomer and science popularizer Carl Sagan was recognized for all his contributions to science; In one of them, he defined time as the fourth dimension; Something similar to what happened at the end of the movie Interstellar (2014).
Einstein’s theory states that time is relative, the faster you travel, the faster time will flow. This hypothesis has already been proven by experiments placing atomic clocks on airplanes. In fact, astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have managed to experience some of the effect of time perception.
Currently the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) He conducts experiments on the ISS to understand the perception of time in space. After all, your astronauts are constantly traveling around the planet at thousands of kilometers per hour.
“The purpose of the ‘Time Perception in Microgravity’ experiment is to investigate the time perception of the crew on the station. Crew members are asked to rate or recreate the display time of the blue square shown in the center. [do óculos de realidade virtual]. Results are compared to pre-flight and post-flight baselines,” explains NASA.
Perception of space and time in the universe
Maybe you’ve never thought about it, but astronauts on the ISS They revolve around the earth at a speed of approximately 28 thousand kilometers per hour. – 400 kilometers from the Earth’s surface. Each full tour takes approximately 90 minutes. On a six-month flight with the specified specifications, astronauts could return to Earth approximately 0.007 milliseconds younger than if they had remained on the planet.
To perform time perception tests on the ISS, astronauts use virtual reality glasses and headsets to block out outside information. From here, Them Astronomers need to do some experiments that will help them understand how time is predicted in space environments. The experiment is conducted first on the ISS and then when the astronauts return to Earth to compare the results.
According to research published in the journal Nature, a group of scientists point out that people perceive both space and time in an affected way while on the International Space Station. For example, previous articles showed that: Astronauts’ spatial perception, including distance, depth, and size, changes during space orbit.
“We perceive the environment through a detailed mental representation based on the continuous integration of sensory information, knowledge and expectations. Previous studies of astronauts on the International Space Station have shown that mental representations of space, such as object size, distance and depth perception, change in orbit. Since mental representations of space and time have some overlap in neural networks, we hypothesized that the understanding of time would also be affected by spaceflight,” the paper explains.
In other studies, scientists point out that time perception may be linked to human language. For example, English is a language that uses a left-to-right system, so speakers of the language tend to describe time from left to right. In languages listed from right to left, such as Arabic and Hebrew, the time will be reversed.
When we say time, we usually say that the past is behind us and the future is ahead of us. However, the situation is very different for the Aymara tribe, the indigenous people of South America. Because of the language of the tribes, they claim that the past is in front of them and the future is behind them.
In any case, despite studies that have comprehensively investigated the subject, we still have not discovered all the features of time and space. For us, both work in a specific, linear way, but perhaps our brain and visual limitations do not allow us to experience the universe as it might actually be.
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Source: Tec Mundo
I’m Blaine Morgan, an experienced journalist and writer with over 8 years of experience in the tech industry. My expertise lies in writing about technology news and trends, covering everything from cutting-edge gadgets to emerging software developments. I’ve written for several leading publications including Gadget Onus where I am an author.
