4 ms·
The higher the density, the more curved is the spacetime at that area, and the slower is the passage of time. You don't have to go to extremes like black holes
by nine_k 2y ago
The higher the density, the more curved is the spacetime at that area, and the slower is the passage of time. You don't have to go to extremes like black holes vs absolute vacuum. A sufficient difference should be visible between regions closer to centers of galaxies, or just clusters of nearby galaxies, and really large "voids" between them, which contain some matter, and even some stars, but are vastly more empty. This is what the article explores.
(This connects in a funny way to Vernor Vinge's SF idea of slower and faster areas of space. The "high" / "fast" space is mostly empty, so the time passes there faster than in the "unthinking depths" around galactic cores, and hugely more progress is done by civilizations in the "fast" space, as observed from the "slow" space.)
- skirmish 2y ago> Vernor Vinge's SF idea of slower and faster areas of space His ideas were more ambitious: there are advanced technologies (e.g. FTL travel) that work in "fast" space but completely stop working in the "slow zone" (where the Solar system is located). On the other hand, even human-level intelligence would stop functioning close to the galactic center, the crew would not be able to operate the ship and would be stranded.
- lazide 2y agoAlso, if I remember correctly wasn’t it implied that this was constructed/controllable a bit, and was due to some kind of ‘nature preserve’ from a super alien race? I might be misremembering.