5 ms·

Relativity Visualized

53 points by rblion 12y ago

cturhan 12y ago
I've once made a simple demo about gravitational lensing. http://codepen.io/cihadturhan/full/lqDdo/ http://codepen.io/cihadturhan/full/lqDdo/
- Hytosys 12y ago
  Really neat effect, and great use of canvas! Have we ever captured an image of something like a black hole-galaxy eclipse as displayed during the opening animation of your demo? I've never seen a full Einstein ring with darkness in the center... Cool nonetheless!
  - cturhan 12y ago
    Thanks, I was planning to create a black hole simulation on the web and that would be the intro. I've inspired from the computer simulated animations but there are real images out there.
- leephillips 12y ago
  That is fantastic. I featured it on the front page of the Arlington Planetarium website: http://friendsoftheplanetarium.org/ http://friendsoftheplanetarium.org/
isp 12y ago
I found that an interactive game, Velocity Raptor, gave a great intuition for relativity: http://www.testtubegames.com/velocityraptor.html http://www.testtubegames.com/velocityraptor.html The premise is that you control a character moving at relativistic speeds. The first handful of levels are just to get used to the controls, and not very interesting. It is worth sticking with it for the later levels.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  Wow. Thank you for that link. A (computer)game that kept me interested for more than 30 seconds is pretty rare.
- Steuard 12y ago
  That's a really good one! As I recall, it introduces concepts one at a time in a good, educational way, and it winds up fully relativistic (and kinda crazy) by the end. Another more immersive but less "instructive" game is "A Slower Speed of Light": http://gamelab.mit.edu/games/a-slower-speed-of-light/ http://gamelab.mit.edu/games/a-slower-speed-of-light/ It's pretty cool, though it gets disorienting by the end.
- laumars 12y ago
  I remember playing Psycho Fox on the Sega Master System which had a similar inertia based control (except it was side scrolling rather than top down) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_Fox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_Fox
3rd3 12y ago
I found this one quite helpful: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C2VMO7pcWhg https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C2VMO7pcWhg
- agumonkey 12y ago
  Really loved it.
xrange 12y ago
Does anyone know of a general & special relativity simulator? That is, a program where I can setup various "thought experiments", by placing clocks and masses at various point in space, where they can have various acceleration profiles, and can communicate with each other, and run the scenarios? I never really understood the twins "paradox" and the explanations for the source of the asymmetry seemed hand-wavy and "because".
snu 12y ago
Very cool, I particularly enjoyed the wormhole trip. Reminds me of 'Real Time Relativity', a fun program for exploring 3d worlds at relativistic speeds: http://realtimerelativity.org/ http://realtimerelativity.org/

53 points by rblion 12y ago

I've once made a simple demo about gravitational lensing. http://codepen.io/cihadturhan/full/lqDdo/ http://codepen.io/cihadturhan/full/lqDdo/

Hytosys 12y ago
Really neat effect, and great use of canvas! Have we ever captured an image of something like a black hole-galaxy eclipse as displayed during the opening animation of your demo? I've never seen a full Einstein ring with darkness in the center... Cool nonetheless!
- cturhan 12y ago
  Thanks, I was planning to create a black hole simulation on the web and that would be the intro. I've inspired from the computer simulated animations but there are real images out there.
leephillips 12y ago
That is fantastic. I featured it on the front page of the Arlington Planetarium website: http://friendsoftheplanetarium.org/ http://friendsoftheplanetarium.org/

isp 12y ago

I found that an interactive game, Velocity Raptor, gave a great intuition for relativity: http://www.testtubegames.com/velocityraptor.html http://www.testtubegames.com/velocityraptor.html The premise is that you control a character moving at relativistic speeds. The first handful of levels are just to get used to the controls, and not very interesting. It is worth sticking with it for the later levels.

jacquesm 12y ago
Wow. Thank you for that link. A (computer)game that kept me interested for more than 30 seconds is pretty rare.
Steuard 12y ago
That's a really good one! As I recall, it introduces concepts one at a time in a good, educational way, and it winds up fully relativistic (and kinda crazy) by the end. Another more immersive but less "instructive" game is "A Slower Speed of Light": http://gamelab.mit.edu/games/a-slower-speed-of-light/ http://gamelab.mit.edu/games/a-slower-speed-of-light/ It's pretty cool, though it gets disorienting by the end.
laumars 12y ago
I remember playing Psycho Fox on the Sega Master System which had a similar inertia based control (except it was side scrolling rather than top down) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_Fox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_Fox

3rd3 12y ago

I found this one quite helpful: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C2VMO7pcWhg https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C2VMO7pcWhg

agumonkey 12y ago
Really loved it.

xrange 12y ago

Does anyone know of a general & special relativity simulator? That is, a program where I can setup various "thought experiments", by placing clocks and masses at various point in space, where they can have various acceleration profiles, and can communicate with each other, and run the scenarios? I never really understood the twins "paradox" and the explanations for the source of the asymmetry seemed hand-wavy and "because".

snu 12y ago

Very cool, I particularly enjoyed the wormhole trip. Reminds me of 'Real Time Relativity', a fun program for exploring 3d worlds at relativistic speeds: http://realtimerelativity.org/ http://realtimerelativity.org/