Is spacetime really a fabric?

The biggest lesson from Einstein’s general theory of relativity is that space itself isn’t a flat, unchanging, absolute entity. Rather it’s woven together, along with time, into a single fabric: spacetime. This fabric is continuous, smooth, and gets curved and deformed by the presence of matter and energy.

What is space-time and how it works?

Space-time is a mathematical model that joins space and time into a single idea called a continuum. This four-dimensional continuum is known as Minkowski space. Combining these two ideas helped cosmology to understand how the universe works on the big level (e.g. galaxies) and small level (e.g. atoms).

What is the space-time continuum for dummies?

Einstein’s theory of special relativity created a fundamental link between space and time. The universe can be viewed as having three space dimensions — up/down, left/right, forward/backward — and one time dimension. This 4-dimensional space is referred to as the space-time continuum.

Why is it called spacetime?

Nowadays, when people talk about space-time, they often describe it as resembling a sheet of rubber. This, too, comes from Einstein, who realized as he developed his theory of general relativity that the force of gravity was due to curves in the fabric of space-time.

Can you break the space/time continuum?

As far as I’m concerned, there’s no such thing as ‘the space-time continuum’. Hence, there’s nothing to be broken. Space-time cannot exist as a merger of space and time because space is an empty void that doesn’t even have virtual particles; and time is the temporal interval between events.

Do you age faster or slower in space?

We all measure our experience in space-time differently. That’s because space-time isn’t flat — it’s curved, and it can be warped by matter and energy. And for astronauts on the International Space Station, that means they get to age just a tiny bit slower than people on Earth. That’s because of time-dilation effects.