h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"Thus, the effect produced is a perceived slowing of time for any matter moving at relativistic speeds, from the perspective of a stationary observer, and a perceived speeding up of time for any stationary matter, from the perspective of a relativistic observer."

This is, of course, the OPPOSITE of the basic premise of Einstein's Theory. The Principle of Relativity, one of Einstein's axioms, is that you CAN'T TELL who is stationary and who is moving. Yes, time slows down for matter moving at relativistic speeds from the perspective of a stationary observer, but no, time does not speed up for any stationary matter, from the perspective of a relativistic observer. From the perspective of the observer, he is stationary and the matter that you call stationary is moving at relativistic speeds, so time slows down for that matter.

That was wordy. Here's a more succinct version. A train whooshes through a platform at near-light speeds. As it passes, a man on the train and a man on the platform look at each others watches. The man on the train will see that the watch on the platform is running slow, and the man on the platform will see that the watch on the train is running slow. Paradoxical? Yes. Keep in mind that simulaneity is also relative, and you begin to get a sense of the weirdness going on here.

Also, relativistic effects are not "exponential", they increase more quickly than any exponential function. The easiest way to summarize this is that exponential growth approaches infinity as the independent variable increases without limit. Relativistic effects, however, approach infinity asymptotically as the independent variable (relative velocity) approaches a certain finite limit, namely, the speed of light.

GTB

Mind blowing, being able to see a watch whilst traveling at close to the speed of light. Try look at someones watch while riding a bike.

So gravitation tends to infinity as mass tends towards some limit of the mass at the core of a supernova, above which it is a singularity with an event horizon that makes it *look* as if it has dimensions, though its actual volume (in space, possibly not in time) is zero. Is this right?