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Scientists Check Einstein’s Predictions Using Earth Itself As The Laboratory

For Forbes:

The modern description of gravity, Albert Einstein’s general relativity, is one of the most successful and best-tested theories we have. The core of that theory is a set of principles that say basically “physics is physics, wherever you are and no matter how fast you’re moving”. In particular, an experiment performed under the influence of gravity alone should work exactly the same as if you’re performing the same experiment deep in space without any gravity at all.

That’s a tricky concept to verify, but scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Colorado have provided the best test for it yet, using Earth itself as the laboratory. They performed precision experiments in atomic physics (one of NIST’s specialties) and compared those results to those obtained at labs around the world, with data taken over a period of 14 years. The result: general relativity’s predictions were upheld once again.

[Read the rest at Forbes…]