I don't understand science

DrLeopoldStrabismusDrLeopoldStrabismus
edited July 18 in For SCIENCE
How fast would a message travel if an entire galaxy's mass was shifted an enormous distance, and the resultant change in force (because of gravity) was measured on another galaxy at the other end of the Universe?

EDIT OF: The message being sent is a binary one which is represented by a shift in gravitational force felt by the distant galaxy.

Comments

  • BehemothBehemoth
    edited December 2007
    First, you'll have to prove to me that the Universe has "sides". Second, speed of light = upper limit. Some say there may be ways of bending time/space. the result of which would sort of be like moving faster than the speed of light; at least, you would be able to get from point A to point B in a shorter period of time than could a light particle traveling a straight line.

    But to answer your question, I can't. It seems to lack coherency. Where is the message? When you say a galaxy's mass, do you mean the whole galaxy, or are you saying that the center, just it's mass is somehow shifted?
  • DrLeopoldStrabismusDrLeopoldStrabismus
    edited December 2007
    Expand your mind, man. Just because the speed of light is the upper limit doesn't mean you can't go faster than it.

    Are you familiar with the saying, "If you pick a flower you move a star"?
  • deku12345deku12345
    edited December 2007
    Are you essentially asking "What is the speed of gravity?" Because thats what it sounds like. I could be misinterpreting though.
  • mariomario
    edited December 2007
    You appear to be asking about the time it takes from when a mass is displaced at Point A to when the change in gravitational force can be measured at Point B. Am I right? Your use of "message" made this a little confusing.

    I won't pretend to know the answer to this offhand, but I did a Google search for "speed of gravity". It looks like experiments performed in 2002 concluded (with plenty of arguments about the validity of the data) that the speed of gravity is probably the speed of light. The "message" would travel at 186,000 miles per second.
  • DrLeopoldStrabismusDrLeopoldStrabismus
    edited December 2007
    Yarr

    >:[
  • hlavcohlavco
    edited December 2007
    Happy 1001st post!
  • SerephelSerephel
    edited December 2007
    In September 2002, Sergei Kopeikin and Edward Fomalont announced that they had made an indirect measurement of the speed of gravity, using their data from VLBI measurement of the retarded position of Jupiter on its orbit during Jupiter's transit across the line-of-sight of the bright radio source quasar QSO J0842+1835.

    Retarded position of Jupiter. Awesome.
  • AgentcelAgentcel
    edited December 2007
    Girls go to Jupiter to get more stupider, everyone knows that!
  • illithid235illithid235
    edited December 2007
    There was a corresponding thing that guys did, wasn't there?
  • BehemothBehemoth
    edited December 2007
    Boys go to Venus to get more...
  • mariomario
    edited December 2007
    Boys go to Uranus?
  • deku12345deku12345
    edited December 2007
    I seem to remember it being "Boys go to college to get more knowlege." But I don't know if thats the "standard" response...
  • SerephelSerephel
    edited December 2007
    You know what guys, I find this thread to be offensive to me. You shouldn't make sexist jokes like that.
  • AgentcelAgentcel
    edited December 2007
    Teehee, it's another SCIENCE thread.

    SCIENCE=SEXISM?

    :O
  • illithid235illithid235
    edited December 2007
    Yes, that might have been it. I knew it was something about getting smarter, and I remember thinking that it wasn't a planet.

    So yes. We've discovered ancient lore.
  • mariomario
    edited December 2007
    My school recited it as "boys go to Mars, to get candy bars". I think that works better within the planetary theme.
  • SilverwardSilverward
    edited December 2007
    Well, that explains why Martians are so fat.
  • Amoeba BoyAmoeba Boy
    edited December 2007
    And it makes a nice candy themed pun. There's no downside to that option.
  • BehemothBehemoth
    edited December 2007
    When I was in elementary school, it was Venus and penis. Honestly, you kids today.
  • SerephelSerephel
    edited December 2007
    Honestly, you old folks today.

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