| | Predictions of relativity have not historically been used to make the [[Global Positioning System]] ([[GPS]]) function properly, which are synchronized simply by communicating with stations on earth. <ref>Some do claim that relativity is "vital" to GPS even though GPS developed independently of theoretical preductions. See [http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast162/Unit5/gps.html]</ref>. | | Predictions of relativity have not historically been used to make the [[Global Positioning System]] ([[GPS]]) function properly, which are synchronized simply by communicating with stations on earth. <ref>Some do claim that relativity is "vital" to GPS even though GPS developed independently of theoretical preductions. See [http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast162/Unit5/gps.html]</ref>. |
| − | A decade of observation of the [[pulsar]] pair [[PSR 1913 16|PSR B1913+16]] detected a decline in its orbital period, which was attributed to a loss in energy by the system. It is impossible to measure the masses of the pulsars, their accelerations relative to the observers, or other fundamental parameters. Professors Joseph Taylor and Russell Hulse, who discovered the binary pulsar, found that values could be assigned to the pulsars to make the observed decline in orbital period consistent with the [[Theory of General Relativity]], and for this they were awarded the 1993 [[Nobel Prize]] for Physics, which is the only award ever given by the Nobel committee for the [[Theory of Relativity]].<ref>http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1993/press.html</ref> In 2004, Professor Taylor utilized a correction to the derivative of the orbital period to fit the data better to the theory. | + | A decade of observation of the [[pulsar]] pair [[PSR 1913 16|PSR B1913+16]] detected a decline in its orbital period, which was attributed to a loss in energy by the system. It is impossible to measure the masses of the pulsars, their accelerations relative to the observers, or other fundamental parameters. Professors Joseph Taylor and Russell Hulse, who discovered the binary pulsar, found that values could be assigned to the pulsars to make the observed decline in orbital period consistent with the [[Theory of General Relativity]], and for this they were awarded the 1993 [[Nobel Prize]] for Physics, which is the only award ever given by the Nobel committee for the [[Theory of Relativity]].<ref>http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1993/press.html</ref> In 2004, Professor Taylor utilized a correction to the derivative of the orbital period to fit subsequent data better to the theory. |