Just a few questions, let's say that all of the earth's mass was collected into 5 miles of crust so that on the surface, no change in vector or strength of gravity could be felt. If you dug down 5 miles and broke though, wouldn't you fall?
But if you threw a ring onto a foam mattress and dropped a marble in the center, wouldn't it run towards the depression close to the ring?
Also I have read that if you travel at relativistic speeds (I forget if it is while you are undergoing acceleration or not, maybe someone can help me out), that you would be unable to see stars if you looked in any direction perpendicular to the direction you are traveling. You could however see stars in the front and back, and in fact, would be seeing stars there (for example at 30 degrees off center) instead of to your side. Does this have to do with the "vector of impact" that photons arriving from your side appear to have?
Also, if time dilation can be measured after synchronized watches are returned to the same inertial frame, why can't length contraction be measured... or can it? Or is time dilation "real" and length contraction only a distortion?
Also, am I even asking the right questions or am I way off the mark?
This message has been edited by teratogenome, 12-13-2004 04:34 AM