On 2012-03-04, John Hasler <[email protected]> wrote: > I wrote: >> [UTC] localizes TAI to this particular planet. > > unruh writes: >> That makes it sound as if TAI is some God given time. > > There being no god, nothing is god-given. > >> It is not. It was developed and defined in the context of precisely >> this planet. > > It is based on universal physical constants rather then on the motion of > a particular object.
It is based on this particular object. It is 1/86400 of the time from mean noon to mean noon at a particular year (something like 1900). It has now been redefined in terms a certain atomic transition, ( a highly peculiar and complex atom which just happened for a few years to make the best clock-- it does not anymore.) As I said, the chances that any other civilisation would have the same definition is 0. > >> If there is a timekeeping species somewhere else in the universe, I >> promise you they will NOT use TAI. > > They probably will use something similarly derived from physical > constants. It is not derived. It was a highly accidental, peculiar, process. Noone could derive the value is in terms of fundamental constants. _______________________________________________ questions mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ntp.org/listinfo/questions
