What is the Real Life Twin Paradox?

[nitsuj]

Landed on this PBS page, and read that there is going to be a real life twin paradox.

Excerpt from the article "Astronaut twins Scott and Mark Kelly are about to realize this experiment: when Scott returns from a year in orbit in 2016 he will be about 28 microseconds younger than Mark, who is staying on Earth."

Hopefully Scott's 28 millionths of a second age advantage doesn't spark a sibling rivalry. That's got to be a record age differential between twins.

 

[Orodruin]

I believe the intrinsic age difference due to the time it takes a woman to give birth to the second twin significantly outweights this correction.

 

[nitsuj]

I believe the intrinsic age difference due to the time it takes a woman to give birth to the second twin significantly outweights this correction.

Boo! Of course the basis for the fun in this is the assumption they were born at the same time...remarkable woman!

Whats more here (if we're getting technical) is the development of Scott and Mark in the womb. If I understand right...it's complicated enough to just say the were conceived at the same time.

 

[jerromyjon]

conceived at the same time.

Identical twins are conceived as one child and then the egg splits in two.

 

[nitsuj]

Identical twins are conceived as one child and then the egg splits in two.

Well that wraps up the reasoning, the twins have zero age difference at conception...and in the most physically strict sense possible!

Girls have eggs?? I'm gunna go post some questions in the Biology Forum.

 

[Bandersnatch]

Girls have eggs?? I'm gunna go post some questions in the Biology Forum.

Don't bother. It's dominated by dogmatically-entrenched supporters of the stork theory.

 

[jerromyjon]

the twins have zero age difference at conception...and in the most physically strict sense possible!

I suppose for completeness I should stress, as Orodruin mentioned, this is where the identities begin to deviate. Milliseconds of longevity gained in maturity is about as significant as one twin having a momentarily sticky keystroke while the other's is smooth.

 

[mfb]

Given all the negative health effects of being in space, Scott probably has a lower life expectancy. By more than 28 microseconds.

 

[Dale]

Of course the basis for the fun in this is the assumption they were born at the same time...remarkable woman!

Aack! That would be horrible. Poor woman.

Should we ban all future discussions of the twin paradox on the grounds that an experimental resolution would be completely inhumane to the twin's mother?

 

[Ibix]

Don't bother. It's dominated by dogmatically-entrenched supporters of the stork theory.

Now if only we knew the airspeed velocity of an unladen stork...

 

[nitsuj]

I suppose for completeness I should stress, as Orodruin mentioned, this is where the identities begin to deviate. Milliseconds of longevity gained in maturity is about as significant as one twin having a momentarily sticky keystroke while the other's is smooth.

Of course, and why i joked in that post "hoping" it wouldn't cause a sibling rivalry. Though I was thinking along the lines of experience, nobody fights over keystrokes...or do thea?