News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on A clock that can detect tiny shifts in the flow of time itself.

Re:A clock that can detect tiny shifts in the flow of time i... by amosgewirtz on Monday November 03, 2014 @03:53PM (#8553419)
A "world in which your watch starts to tick faster, because you're working on the floor above me." and "your 3:30 happens earlier than mine, and we miss our appointment," seems ridiculous but it's not a totally foreign idea. For example, if your apartment is above the 150th floor of Burj Khalifa (the tallest building on earth), you must wait an additional 3 minutes to break the fast during the month of Ramadan, while if you live between the 80th floor and the 150th floor you only need to wait an additional 2 minutes. This mismatch in time happens for a different reason, but the result is the same and people seem to manage alright. Saying that this new clock might "End Time As We Know It" is pretty sensationalist.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:A clock that can detect tiny shifts in the flow of time i... by guelo on Monday November 03, 2014 @04:05PM (#8553494)
The Ramadan fast ends at sunset. The sunset ends later for people at higher elevation because you can see over the horizon a little bit more. Not because of the time dilation of gravity.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:A clock that can detect tiny shifts in the flow of time i... by amosgewirtz on Monday November 03, 2014 @04:14PM (#8553562)
Right, which is why I said that "This mismatch in time happens for a different reason."
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:A clock that can detect tiny shifts in the flow of time i... by EGreg on Monday November 03, 2014 @04:05PM (#8553493)
Actually software developers have long been aware that different clocks can run at different speeds and tryto compare apples to apples.

Does anyone remember the name of that article that describes various clock synchronization techniques? I think it went something like "more than you ever wanted to know about computer time" and was based on an earlier similar title about another subject.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:A clock that can detect tiny shifts in the flow of time i... by furyofantares on Monday November 03, 2014 @04:56PM (#8553807)
Perhaps "what every programmer should know about time" and "what every programmer should know about memory" ?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:A clock that can detect tiny shifts in the flow of time i... by EGreg on Monday November 03, 2014 @05:12PM (#8553900)
Yep! THANK YOU
[ Parent | on HN ]