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The Lounge
Science Fiction and Fantasy Media
Sci-Fi Writing and World Building
How long does something exist at relativistic speeds?
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[QUOTE="some bloke, post: 6157062, member: 654906"] So I want to include near-light-speed travel in my fiction, but I'm getting bogged down by the implications of it! My understanding is: If something travels very fast (close to the speed of light) time dilation will cause it to experience time slower, meaning that the journey, as observed by Earth (the origin of the travel) would last for longer than it would to those on board. EG (number invented to numbers sake) Earth sees it as taking 10 years, the people on board see it as taking 5 years. What I'm curious about is what effect this has on how long the vessel has existed? so, for example, if your vessel contains radioactive elements with a half life of (in this example) 5 years, would they be 1/2 as active or 1/4 as active on arrival? Now, if the vessel was set up to send a signal back to Earth each time it decays (like some sort of excessively elaborate and very fast geiger counter) would earth, assuming they account for the ever increasing distance of the vessel from earth, register the decreased speed of time on the vessel? if the crew were to record a message and transmit it, would their voices be distorted, IE sped up or slowed down? Appreciate any input here! [/QUOTE]
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How long does something exist at relativistic speeds?
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