Technology and Time: The Real Formula for the Fountain of Youth?

In times past, extreme precision in the keeping of time was not of concern to people; however, the advancement of technology demands extreme accuracy in telling time. For example, Machines on a computer network must be synchronized which is why the network time protocol (NTP) is used. The successful take-off of rockets for launching satellites or space travel cannot take place unless every stage of every required operation takes place at a very precise time. The invention of atomic clocks is yet further evidence of the inseparable link between technology and time.

Time and Time Warp

Time has been loosely defined as a phenomenon that keeps everything from happening at once. It is also defined as a continuum in which events happen in an irreversible order--past, present, and future. Time warp is a hypothetical distortion of time in which events move from one time period to another. It also refers to the suspension of the passage of time or "time standing still." In what way is technology and time so closely connected? Could that connection somehow be a real fountain of youth formula?

Real Fountain of Youth Formula Based on Time Warp

The invention of jets allowed man to travel to any place on earth in less than 24 hours. This technological advance also permitted people to experience a form of "time travel" since a non-stop flight from one time zone to another can give someone the sense that time stood still when he arrives at his destination and it is nearly the same time, in that time zone, as it was when his departure flight took off.

Also, scientists have witnessed a phenomenon known as time dilation--the acceleration or deceleration of time as described in Einstein's theories of relativity. The passage of time appears to be slower the closer you are to an object of great mass such as planet Earth and it appears to be faster when further away from such an object. Technically speaking, if a person hovered in space high above Earth, he would age faster than he would if he stayed on the planet. The passage of time also appears to be slower for moving objects than for objects standing still. This phenomenon has been explained with the what's known as the "twin paradox." In this dramatization, there are twins who are 25 years old. One travels in space at the speed of light for a few months. When he returns to Earth, he finds that his twin brother has reached middle age. Experiments with atomic clocks appear to prove time dilation.

Is the "time travel" that has been made possible with the invention of jets the precursor to technological advances that will actually manipulate the passage of time? What if space exploration advances to the point of colonization of other planets on which people would age differently than they do on Earth. For example, Mars takes approximately 687 days to revolve around the sun. Therefore, a 30-year-old in Earth years would only be about 16 years old in Martian years. What if people could live on space ships that travel at the speed of light? Would this not be technology interfering with the passage of time and aging? Would such achievements be a real fountain of youth formula?

The problem with technology and time becoming a real fountain of youth formula lies in the fact that the nervous system, which can be thought of as an internal clock, does not tick according to Einstein's or anyone else's theories. When a man's time is up, it's up whether he's near or far from an object of great mass and whether he's moving at the speed of light or sitting still.

Sources:

The Home Adventure Library - The Earth and the Stars Fact Book by Richard Whittingham and Barbara Brooks

Richard N. Williams
Technology and the Importance of Time
Galsys.co.uk