Scientists have known for decades that time passes faster at higher elevations a curious aspect of Einstein's theories of relativity that previously has been measured by comparing clocks on the Earth's surface and a high-flying rocket. NIST physicists compared a pair of the world's best atomic clocks to demonstrate that you age faster when you stand just a couple of steps higher on a staircase.Now, physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have measured this effect at a more down-to-earth scale of 33 centimeters, or about 1 foot, demonstrating, for instance, that you age faster when you stand a couple of steps higher on a staircase. Described in the Sept. 24 issue of Science,* the difference is much too small for humans to perceive directly -adding up to approximately 90 billionths of a second over a 79-year lifetime - but may provide practical applications in geophysics and other fields. Similarly, the NIST researchers observed another aspect of relativity that time passes more slowly when you move faster at speeds comparable to a car traveling about 20 miles per hour, a more comprehensible scale than previous measurements made using jet aircraft....read more...
