SCI/TECH: Special Relativity Equation, E=MC^2, Confirmed By MIT and NIST

Over 100 years after writing his 1905 paper, MIT and The National Institute for Standards and Technology have confirmed that Einstein's equation, E=MC^2 is accurate to .0000004% in a test 55 times more precise than any other done. The equation, a product of special relativity, equated mass with energy. Unlike Newtonian physics, which said a mass at rest had no energy, Einstein theorized mass and energy were the same. His theory has now been confirmed.



While physicists have generally accepted the equation, confirmation to such a precise level adds a lot of weight to special relativity. This also demonstrates, despite wide spread public belief, that science still tests theories with widespread acceptance. The implications of this news story, would have been far greater had EMC^2, but the confirmation is still news.

It’s remarkable that it’s taken over 100 years for such a precise confirmation to be made; yet the theory has been widely accepted and used in such things as the atomic bomb and GPS guidance systems.

Related News Links:
en.wikipedia.org
web.mit.edu
www.latimes.com

[edit on 1/5/06/05 by junglejake]

GREAT find!

And now, quantum physics is being used to help explain biological processes. Hopefully, things will move along fast enough for us to save what's left of this world.

Zeeman-Stark modeling of the RF EMF interaction with ligand binding A. Chiabrera, B. Bianco, E. Moggia, J.J. Kaufman
Bioelectromagnetics, Volume 21, Issue 4 , Pages 312 - 324, © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc. PMID: 10797459

Abstract
The influence of radiofrequency electromagnetic exposure on ligand binding to hydrophobic receptor proteins is a plausible early event of the interaction mechanism. A comprehensive quantum Zeeman-Stark model has been developed which takes into account the energy losses of the ligand ion due to its collisions inside the receptor crevice, the attracting nonlinear endogenous force due to the potential energy of the ion in the binding site, the out of equilibrium state of the ligand-receptor system due to the basal cell metabolism, and the thermal noise. The biophysical output is the change of the ligand binding probability that, in some instances, may be affected by a suitable low intensity exogenous electromagnetic input exposure, e.g., if the depth of the potential energy well of a putative receptor protein matches the energy of the radiofrequency photon. These results point toward both the possibility of the electromagnetic control of biochemical processes and the need for a new database of safety standards.

What's interesting is quantum physics and special relativity are at odds with one another. As of today, we have no idea how to integrate the two theories. For the most part, this is irrelevant to physics as special relativity applies to macro systems and quantum mechanics applies to micro systems. However, there are situations where the two combine and physics just scratches its head. One such case would be the Big Bang at Plank's time and before, where you have high gravity (special relativity) and an extremely small system (quantum mechanics). If you look at any timelines for the big bang, there will simply be a question mark before the Plank Time. Another instance where these two theories collide would be in black holes and possibly extremely dense neutron stars.

Point taken JJ.

...Interestingly, many chemical reactions seen in biology are "forbidden" according to the laws of quantum mechanics. ...So I'm thinking that life itself integrates quantum mechanics and special relativity. It's a leap of course.

Biochemists Turn To Quantum Physics

Charge is a property of electrons most people are familiar with while another property, spin, is lesser known and typically the preserve of physicists. Electron spin occurs in one of two opposing directions - up or down - and biochemists want to start factoring electron spin into their computer simulations of biochemical reactions to make them more accurate.

"Physicists have long known that, according to the laws of quantum mechanics, there are some chemical reactions in our bodies that are 'forbidden' - such as hemoglobin's binding oxygen in our lungs when we breathe. But they do happen nonetheless. So, because these reactions involve electron spin, we decided to take a closer look at them," explained Rodriguez. "Nature loves balance, and you see evidence of it in both charge and spin," Rodriguez continued. "For example, electrons of opposite spin like to pair up with each other as they fly around the nucleus. This allows their spins to balance one another, just as positive and negative charges do between protons and electrons. Even when you have hundreds of electrons forming an immense cloud around a complex molecule, you still see balance in both charge and spin. But sometimes the electrons in metalloproteins seem to be playing a trick on us. As we see with hemoglobin, nature appears to be conserving electronic charge while sacrificing this conservation in spin."

As many of these supposedly forbidden reactions involve biomolecules and transition metals, which can flip back and forth between different spin states under certain conditions, Rodriguez theorized that it was this variability in spin state that was influencing the rate of these reactions. ..."We are creating a new field that attempts to understand biochemical processes at the most fundamental level - that of quantum mechanics. It could be the most important step toward making biochemistry a predictive science rather than a descriptive one," he concluded.

Great find JJ, really cool, and pretty intersting.

To bad though, this just states more that travel for any object with mass beyond the speed of light is nearly impossible.

It's not that it's impossible to travel faster than the speed of light. It is crossing the light speed threshold that is impossible and requires infinite energy. If you're already going faster than the speed of light, you're going to have an easier time getting around quickly...Though you couldn't ever stop.

What's really interesting, though, is that there is a theoretically stationary force that can accelerate to infinite speeds. The experiments that confirmed it were a very strong basis for string theory. The experiment was based on the Heisenburg Uncertainty Principle and was done to prove that the spin of an electron is a probability and not a reality until it is measured. A heavy particle with no spin was blasted in a particle accelerator causing two electrons to fly off. Due to conservation of spin, the two particles' spin had to equal 0, or no spin. In theory, this meant that as soon as one of the particles' spin was measured, it would immediately mean the other particle was spinning the other way, no matter where in the universe it was. Experiments have been done confirming this and creating less of a likelihood Einstein was correct in his opposition to Heisenburg.

It is an extraordinarily complicated subject, but if you're interested in learning more about quantum mechanics and general relativity, this does a really good job of dumbing it down to non-physicist levels, educating you enough to start to really delve into the concepts and even the math.

Soficrow, that’s really interesting. I’m going to have to give that a through read!

pish newton WHAT? newton WHO?


well as good as this sounds it kinda sux b/c if his theory is completely confirmed it means getting to the speed of light is impossible b/c the closer you get to that speed, you just start to expand, and well it is impossible to reach that speed...which eliminates the possibilty of serious space travel...ofcoarse wormholes are always possible but even those are far fecthed.