Albert Einstein tells us that clocks run slower the deeper they are in the gravitational potential well of a mass – the closer they are to a heavenly body, for example. This effect is described by General Relativity Theory as the gravitational red shift – it is detectable in spectral lines that shift toward the red end of the spectrum. General Relativity Theory also predicts that the rates of all clocks are equally influenced by gravitation independent of how these clocks are physically or technically constructed. However, more recent theories of gravitation allow for the possibility that the type of clock indeed influences the degree of gravitational red shift. To test this theory-about-a-theory, scientists have launched a high-altitude research rocket to send various types of clocks into space and back again.
via Science Daily
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