The idea that objects contract in length when they travel near the speed of light is a widely accepted consequence of Einstein’s special relativity. But if you could observe such an object, it ...

Why do moving rulers shrink (length contraction) and moving clocks run slow (time dilation) such that everyone measures the same speed of light c, regardless of their relative motions? Einstein ...

Famed physicist Albert Einstein at the blackboard. Albert Einstein's theory of special relativity revolutionized science and, once proven observationally, brought the physicist international fame.

When an object moves extremely fast – close to the speed of light – certain basic assumptions that we take for granted no longer apply. This is the central consequence of Albert Einstein's special ...

The Terrell-Penrose effect, predicted in 1959, suggests that objects moving at speeds close to that of light appear rotated. This optical illusion results from the combination of relativistic length ...

Relativity is one of the most famous scientific theories of the 20th century, but how well does it explain the things we see in our daily lives? Formulated by Albert Einstein in 1905, the theory of ...

Paul Sutter is an astrophysicist at The Ohio State University and the chief scientist at COSI science center. Sutter is also host of "Ask a Spaceman" and "Space Radio," and leads AstroTours around the ...

In a Universe governed by General Relativity, filled with matter-and-energy, a static solution is not possible. That Universe must either expand or contract, with measurements revealing very quickly ...

Relativity lies at the heart of the most fundamental theories of physics. Formulated by Albert Einstein in 1905, relativity is built on the key idea that physical laws take the same form for any ...