Evidence of a Gravitational Redshift
Relativity predicted that time slows
down in a gravitational field, an effect known as the gravitational redshift.
During the 1960s, scientists at Harvard University utilized a phenomenon
called the Mössbauer effect to verify whether clocks actually do slow down
in regions of greater gravity. They used the clock-like property of the
radioactive nuclei of certain atoms, assuming that these atoms emitted
gamma radiation, or number of "ticks", at a precisely periodic
frequency. They performed the experiment on the roof and in the basement of a
tall building. Measuring the frequencies of gamma ray emission, they found
that atoms in the greater gravitational field of the basement, which is
closer to the Earth, released radiation on a slightly less frequent period
than atoms on the roof. Their findings coincided with Einstein's predictions
with an accuracy of more than 1 percent.