Living at high altitude can cause you to age a little faster, even if only by a slight difference. This is according to a study conducted by the American National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Simply put: the neighbor on the tenth floor can age faster than the neighbor on the first floor.
Einstein was right
Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, published in 1915, is one of the turning points of the 20th century, as its dissemination radically changed the understanding of space, time and gravity. As published by National Geographic, which repeated the study, Einstein believed that “gravity is not just a force that attracts objects, but is the curvature of space-time caused by the presence of matter.”
Among the postulates of the physicist born in Ulm (Germany) was that the concept of time is not something absolute, so it does not flow the same for everyone, but rather depends on the speed of objects and the gravitational field in which they exist at that moment.
A phenomenon called “gravitational time dilation” suggests that “the stronger the gravitational field, the slower time passes for someone in that field compared to someone in a place with lower gravity,” according to National Geographic.
The Earth’s attraction, on the other hand, decreases slightly at higher altitudes, so it is logical to associate the idea that the higher the altitude, the less gravitational influence and, as a result, the time passes faster.
A small but real difference
Einstein’s theory helps us understand this phenomenon, although experts warn that the results are almost imperceptible, only on a laboratory scale. However, they are real and measurable if the appropriate tools are available.
That’s what researchers at NIST, along with the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA), were able to measure Einstein’s “time dilation effect” on the smallest scale ever observed, “showing that two tiny atomic clocks, separated by just a millimeter , respectively the width of a sharp pencil tip, set different rhythms,” the statement reads..
“The most important and exciting result is that we can potentially link quantum physics with gravity, for example by investigating complex physics where particles are distributed at different locations in curved spacetime,” said Jun Ye, a researcher at NIST/JILA. .
This experiment, published in 2022 and whose results can be consulted in the journal Science, Another group of scientists led by James Chin-Wen Chou follows in 2020, when Japanese scientists placed an optical grid clock that uses lasers to achieve unparalleled accuracy at the base and top of the Tokyo Skytree, 450 meters above the ground.
Chou and his colleagues used atomic clocks at different heights, only about 30 centimeters apart, and observed that the clocks at the top kept time faster than those below. According to their calculations, accelerated aging can translate into a difference of 90 billionths of a second for those living on a higher floor.
Outside of everyday life
The truth is that such a small difference has no real impact on everyday life. Or at least not for those who don’t mind aging 90 billionths of a second faster than their neighbor on the floor below. It can do so for those who choose not to live on the top floor of a skyscraper to pay attention to these results.
However, the experiment highlights the scientific progress in making these calculations and learning something more about theories as important as the one described by Einstein. As NIST pointed out, these experiments “propose how to make atomic clocks 50 times more accurate than the best current designs and offer a way to possibly reveal how relativity and gravity interact with quantum mechanics, an important dilemma in physics.”
In addition to the theory of relativity, there are studies that directly link where you live to aging, such as the one reported by The Guardian from the University of Essex and Adelaide, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community. This study points to factors such as pollution and unsafe conditions, or those caused by stress and uncertainty, as catalysts for health problems and a greater risk of premature aging.
Edited by Andrea Ariet with information from National Geographic, Nature, The Nation, The Guardian and National Institute of Standards and Technology.
