New Study Reveals Time Moves Faster At The Top Of Skyscrapers

Through a one-of-a-kind study, a team of researchers discovered that time moves quicker at the top of skyscrapers than on the ground. They made their discovery by using a pair of massive super-accurate clocks.

The study was led by Hidetoshi Katori, a quantum electronics professor at the University of Tokyo. It was published in the journal Nature Photonics.

For the study, Katori and his team visited the Tokyo Skytree, a broadcasting and observation tower in Sumida, Tokyo. Standing at the height of 2,080 feet, the Tokyo Skytree is currently known as the tallest tower in the world.

As part of the experiment, the researchers went to the top of the tower and installed an optical clock the size of a refrigerator. This device is capable of providing accurate readings of time. The purpose of the experiment is to compare the readings of the clock to those of another device mounted on the ground.

After carrying out the study, the researchers learned that the time measured at the top of the tower moved faster than on the ground by four nanoseconds. One nanosecond is equivalent to one-billionth of a second.

The concept of the study is similar to the previous findings of scientists regarding satellites operating at low-Earth orbit. According to the scientists, the time in these satellites moves faster than on the ground.

Although the idea regarding the difference in time has been documented in satellites, the study carried out by Katori and his team is the first one to present a more Earth-based application. Specifically, their study is the first to use skyscrapers.

The findings by Katori and his team prove the theory presented by Albert Einstein, which states that the movement of time is affected by the strength of gravity. Since gravity is weaker at higher altitudes, time tends to move much faster.

“People use clocks to tell the time, but they will become an apparatus to measure time and space, such as the difference in altitude, in line with the theory of relativity,” Katori said, according to Japanese media outlet The Asahi Shimbun.