4 ms·
I am a physicist and GPS indeed takes relativistic effects into account. GPS would not just be slightly wrong if it didn't: it would be entirely worthless. See
by Confusion 15y ago
I am a physicist and GPS indeed takes relativistic effects into account. GPS would not just be slightly wrong if it didn't: it would be entirely worthless. See for example [1].
[1] http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast162/Unit5/gps.html http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast162/Unit5/gps....
- jahnu 15y agoFun fact: When designing the original system there was disbelief amongst some involved that the relativistic effects were either real or relevant so they built in a switch to be able to remotely disable those parts of the calculations. They never did disable them.
- Angostura 15y agoActually, that gose down as the funnest fact that I've learned for at least a month, so thank you.
- jahnu 15y agoI don't remember for sure but I think I learned that from one of these lectures... "Particle Physics for Non-Physicists: A Tour of the Microcosmos" http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=1247 http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.asp...