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Posted on 08/17/2007 8:19:28 AM PDT by poiuqwer
A pair of German physicists claim to have broken the speed of light - an achievement that would undermine our entire understanding of space and time.
According to Einstein's special theory of relativity, it would require an infinite amount of energy to propel an object at more than 186,000 miles per second.
However, Dr Gunter Nimtz and Dr Alfons Stahlhofen, of the University of Koblenz, say they may have breached a key tenet of that theory.
The pair say they have conducted an experiment in which microwave photons - energetic packets of light - travelled "instantaneously" between a pair of prisms that had been moved up to 3ft apart.
Being able to travel faster than the speed of light would lead to a wide variety of bizarre consequences.
For instance, an astronaut moving faster than it would theoretically arrive at a destination before leaving.
The scientists were investigating a phenomenon called quantum tunnelling, which allows sub-atomic particles to break apparently unbreakable laws.
Dr Nimtz told New Scientist magazine: "For the time being, this is the only violation of special relativity that I know of."
Figures. The did it using mirrors.
Actually the Clintons broke the light barrier years ago. They are able to go back in time to erase what they said before if it conflicts with what they are saying now.
299,792,458 meters per second. It’s not just a good idea, it’s the Law.
If light does not emanate from the sun in all directions at C, how does it ‘know’ the speed of the source, given that there is no limiting medium (like sound has)?
Can someone explain this paradox to me please?
They're gonna need some duct tape.
“I’m so fast I can flip the light switch and get into bed before the room gets dark”
Not bad, but can you sharpen your lawnmower’s blade,
while it’s running?
No? Slow-poke.
T”Flash”D
If you get into a glass chamber make sure there are no flies in it.
I have a girlfriend whose name is, Special Relativity, coincidentally.
She likes it when I violate her special places, relatively speaking
Yesterday's thread was better, though this one is young.
It is this fact which causes all of the strange behaviour of objects moving at near-light speeds that you may have heard about with respect to relativity.
>Can someone explain this paradox to me please?
The speed doesn’t change. Space changes (whatever that is).
Photons are protestants? Mercy!
Does the Pope know this?
I prefer blue-iculous. Too much emphasis is being placed on the red shift Doppler stuff these days.
p.s. good joke, I liked it.
This reminds me of when the Russians claimed to have cooled something to absolute zero, or the cold fusion hoax claims, or any number of perpetual motion theories. Matter teleportation is about the only really new, revolutionary discovery that turned out to be true.
What's happening is that both space and time change as measured by any one observer.
Say you're on an escalator traveling at 299,792,457 meters per second (c -1.0 m/s) as measured by the Dept. store saleslady on the mezzanine. Ordinarily you're able to climb stairs at two meters per second, so you start going up the escalator steps and you confirm your speed with the stopwatch you're carrying.
What ends up happening is that you and your watch slow down, and even though you feel like you're speeding up, the saleslady watches you reaching the next floor at a speed that's less than c.
Trust me, it can't be done; I've tried it.
"There have been serious studies of emitting a field to impart a positive or negative charge to dust in the path of a vehicle, and the opposite charge to the surface of the craft, making a "repulsor field"."
I think you have that backwards. Opposite polarity attracts, like polarity repels.
You’re quite right, I had it bass ackwards. D’oh!
[I don’t know how many times you’ve been told to keep your tin foil hat on. :)
Yeah, what you said.
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It does, however correct an erroneous statement with short, simple explainations and reference links, which is a good thing.
If left standing, the errors will be cited as fact and that will sooner or later cause big problems.
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