Can Time Slow Down?

Ponca City, We Love You writes "Does time slow down when you are in a traffic accident or other life threatening crisis like Neo dodging bullets in slow-motion in The Matrix? To find out, researchers developed a perceptual chronometer where numbers flickered on the screen of a watch-like unit. The scientists adjusted the speed at which the numbers flickered until it was too fast for the subjects to see. Then subjects were put in a Suspended Catch Air Device, a controlled free-fall system in which 'divers' are dropped backwards off a platform 150 feet up and land safely in a net. Subjects were asked to read the numbers on the perceptual chronometer as they fell [video]. The bottom line: While subjects could read numbers presented at normal speeds during the free-fall, they could not read them at faster-than-normal speeds. 'We discovered that people are not like Neo in The Matrix,' Eagleman said. 'The answer to the paradox is that time estimation and memory are intertwined: the volunteers merely thought the fall took a longer time in retrospect'."

i thought time slowed down enough for a 1st post

[m1ndrape]

damn you agent smith, no wait, damn you oracle...no wait....damn you all!

*shakes* fist

Short answer: No

[Anonymous Coward]

Long answer: Noooooooooooooooooooooooo

dupe

[Sylvak]

I remember reading this here a year or 2 back.

Stupid Question

[Zashi]

What a stupid question. Of course it can. Ever had to sit through 3 meetings in a row?

Turns a matter of hours into a matter of weeks.

I dunno...

[gardyloo]

...if I believe that conclusion. When I was browsing on Slashdot one April, and everything turned pink and ponyish, I swear that day lasted several months, at least.

I dunno....

[framauro13]

I question the testing method. It should include subjects sitting in a cubicle after 4:30pm on a Friday.

Re:A more interesting question

[brewstate]

An even more interesting question is who paid for this study. I have a bridge to sell them.

Research or Disneyland ride?

[thatseattleguy]

Clearly, I'm writing grants for the wrong kind of research. This would be one hell of a lot more fun than playing with infectious diseases.

Re:dupe

[eln]

It only seems like it was a year or 2 ago. Actually, you're just remembering this article from when you read it 10 minutes ago.

Re:Newsflash.

[Knuckles]

I just tried it. People lie to you.

Re:Newsflash.

[jasonmicron]

Time itself does not slow down

Ahh, but it can. Crank up that falling airplane to near the speed of light. Before it hits the ground, we all will be one second older than the occupants.

OMG! It actually does work....

[DRAGONWEEZEL]

That's why I can type all this and then hit

And then I get this message!

Slow Down Cowboy!
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Re:Hmmm...

[Karl0Erik]

Exactly. I suggest strapping chronometers to people's windshields and involving them in accidents without asking them.

Re:Understatement of new Millennium

[jeffmeden]

Don't thank me, my boss mandates slashdot breaks every few hours so that we don't get burned out.

Re:Newsflash.

[Alpha830RulZ]

Um, no. Though the time is takes to open a bag of Doritos does seem to expand to approximately infinity, for some reason.

Re:Seconded...

[Xformer]

In truth, time is an illusion...

Lunch time, doubly so.

Re:Newsflash.

[bkr1_2k]

At speed of light (or near) by the time we age one second the plane will have already buried itself into the ground killing all occupants. So you're right, we'd be one second older, but mostly because they'd be dead. So time doesn't really slow down, death speeds up. Your argument fails.

Re:dupe

[Anonymous Coward]

I farted one day in the office when being with some of the company's executives... and I can assure you that was the slowest 30 seconds of my life.

Re:Hmmm...

[bkr1_2k]

The tape player wasn't broken. Time really did slow down just for you and the universe was just trying to catch up so you didn't cause a time-warp.

Re:That was never "obvious".

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a problem with the heliocentric UNIVERSE!

Be my friend?

[Anonymous Coward]

Next time I go to a soccer game, I'm definitely inviting you along. However, I'll be the one doing the driving.

Re:Newsflash.

[Anonymous Coward]

Unless the plane is over soviet russia.

Re:Film at 11 - but Fox made it, so...

[fyngyrz]

...plus, they could have done a 2nd study on sudden stress induced heart failure in the general population. Bonus, eh?