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Maximum Survivable Time Distortion Factor?

Original question on worldbuilding.stackexchange by Gryphon

This question is somewhat inspired by the number of “time bubble” questions that have been popping up on the site recently. If a real “time bubble” with a large enough time distortion factor existed, entering or leaving the bubble would mean certain death, as parts of the body on the fast side of the bubble edge would die of blood loss while the heart was on the slow side, and when the heart enters the fast side, vessels on the slow side would burst due to overpressure. Of course, if other factors affect the survival of a person crossing a bubble barrier, please address those in your answer.

The question, then, is: What is the maximum time distortion factor that is survivable by a normal, healthy person for the time it would take for a person to fully cross the boundary at walking speed. Of course, legal limits in a world with such time bubbles would probably be far lower than this, to account for accidents or those with weaker hearts or other health problems, but the purpose of this question is to get a sense for the absolute maximum.

Answer by JBH

Case A

Assumption #1: The transition from one perspective of time to another perspective of time is instantaneous. In other words, the walls of the bubble are infintely thin.

Assumption #2: Things happen more quickly inside the bubble than outside (time is “faster” by comparison).

In this case, as my body passes through the bubble, the chemical processes speed up. My metabolism shifts into high gear, but only for those portions of my body that have passed through the membrane. The flow of my blood does NOT speed up until my heart passes through, at which point it beats faster.

Cells are demanding nutrition and generating waste at a faster rate inside the bubble.
The muscles what have moved through the membrane want to contract/expand more quickly, but the nerve impulses from the brain aren’t yet fast enough. This could lead to jerkiness or loss of control, like Parkinson’s Disease, until the brain passes through.
Your blood pressure in the areas inside the bubble would be low. The greater the shift in time, the lower it would be because it’s being pushed by the heart on the other side of the membrane. Remember, chemical reactions speed up, mechanical reactions speed up, but the heart is the mechanical reaction and it’s not there yet. Thus, the blood decays faster, but it doesn’t move faster. Once the heart moves across the boundary, there’s a momentary (and probably painful) spike in blood pressure as it all equals out. At this point the blood in the part of the body outside the membrane is HIGH. I can easily imagine the later-parts of the body to experience broken blood vessels/capillaries (aka bruising) from the transition.
The bloodstream is loaded with yucky stuff that isn’t passing to the liver and kidneys quickly enough.
As I pass through the membrane, septicemia sets in and cells begin to die for lack of oxygen, etc.
Most of the vital organs aren’t compromised (for a moment, for example, the liver is processing at two different rates), but the heart and brain are. The brain doesn’t have a physical manifestation (so to speak), so let’s assume that it survives (though portions of it are "thinking faster" momentarily... for a sec you’d feel like a genius). But the heart... portions of the heart start beating at a different rate than the rest. Leading to cardiac arrest.
The pain would be... impressive... and you’d feel it fast. From disrupted nerves to dying cells, it would be the most painful experience in your life.

Case B

Assumption #1: The transition from one perspective of time to another perspective of time is instantaneous. In other words, the walls of the bubble are infintely thin.

Assumption #2: Things happen more slowly inside the bubble than outside (time is "slower" by comparison).

In this case, as my body passes through the bubble, the chemical processes slow down. My metabolism slows, but only for those portions that have passed through the membrane. My blood does NOT slow down until the heart passes, at which point it beats slower.

Cells are demanding less energy and muscles are moving more slowly (like after a stroke).
Way too much nutrition is coming through the bloodstream leading to hyperoxia and oxygen toxicity, possibly leading to seizures.
Most of the organs aren’t compromised, as before, but your brain “acts slowly” as it passes through, making you temporarily feel dumb as a stump.
Your heart still goes into cardiac arrest. The blood pressure inside the bubble is HIGH until the heart passes through, then you pass out from the sudden drop in pressure. Leading body parts are bruised from the high pressure.
You wouldn’t feel the pain as you entered (at least not quickly), but you’d feel it on the other side. Oh, yeah...

Case C

In this case, we change Assumption #1 such that there’s a transition period. The “membrane” or surface of the bubble isn’t infinitely thin, but some thickness that allows for a gradual transition from Time #1 to Time #2. Obviously, the thicker the membrane the easier the transition. Which suggests that with a thick enough membrane, almost any time shift can be permitted. The thinner it is, the less time shift can be tolerated.

Yeah... but what does all that mean?

There are a lot of variables that we’re ignoring. Are you passing through feet-first? Then moving into a faster time would likely cause your nose to bleed after your heart passed through. Head first? You’d likely die of brain oxygen starvation before the heart got there, etc. There are a LOT of variables.

Your worst case is the infinitely thin membrane such that the shock is greatest. So, how much time could you withstand?

If your goal was to completely pass through the membrane, I believe a shift of *almost nothing* would kill you from cardiac arrest. If it didn’t, you’ve have permanent neurological problems like Parkinson’s Disease from the nerve damage. And that’s assuming you didn’t die from an aneurysm caused by the shifts in blood pressure. From my EE college days, 3% or less is generally considered “statistically zero” because everything is generally happening inside the variance of noise. But I’d bet having half the heart beating at a change of 3% speed would still cause a cardiac arrest. Therefore, assuming the infinitely thin membrane, I’m suggesting it can’t be done (or can’t be done for any useful shift in time. Microseconds might be survivable).

On the other hand, if you had something like a temporal decompression chamber where the body as a whole could be slowly adjusted to the new time stream...