No thing goes faster than light

Physics WEB ^ | Physics in Action: September 2000 | Aephraim M Steinberg

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

"Try 32 ft/sec/sec. "

Damn! I had a feeling it was 32 ft./sec/sec. but I went by my failing memory. Mea culpa.

[Redcloak]

Yes, you see a red or blue shift, but the light still appears to be going at 3X10⁸ m/s, no matter how fast you are going. Since light always appears to go at this speed, traveling at high velocity causes distances and time to distort.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

"Wow, you live under 4.125 Gs? "

Yeah, I live on Jupiter and use a really, really high speed internet connection.

[oldvike]

If nothing goes faster than light then what is the purpose of a worm hole?

[js1138]

I kind of remember these two classics:

If you remember them you should rember their source. I don't remember either.

It has been known for a long time that the crack of a whip is caused by its tip exceeding the speed of sound -- propelled by a human hand.

And long before airplanes could survive exceeding the speed of sound, German V2s were pounding London at speeds greater than sound.

[Russell Scott]

The God of the Bible trancends time and space. In fact, he set the speed of light. If light traveled faster our planet would burn up and any slower and we would be a ball of ice. That also applies to every star in the universe. If light was any faster or slower the physical universe would cease to exist. And yet this is only one of at least 35 finely tuned parameters that ALL must meet specific measurements or life is not possible anywhere in the universe.

[LiveFree99]

Thanks for the reply. I've read that Isaac Newton used similar reasoning to come to the same conclusion. It's one subject that college physics texts don't even mention, unfortunately.

[SERE_DOC]

"I hate to tell you this, but it appears we may be married to the same woman."

OMG!

Hey wait a minute, I don't think that's possible but I may have an explanation, it's a DNA thing you know RNA + DNA+ female = Guilt trip, yea baby that's the ticket, genetics!

[mc5cents]

"No thing goes faster than light"

Not true. Ever see Jesse Jackson heading toward a TV camera?

Yea but Chuckie Schummer gives him a race for his money.

[mlo]

...it'd orbit about where the sun was 8 minutes ago

But we see it where it was 8 minutes ago.

[UberVernunft]

If nothing goes faster than light then what is the purpose of a worm hole?

A worm hole supposedly connects two different regions of space-time. In this case a particle travelling through a worm hole would be experiencing a topological effect. Technically particles would still be travelling less than the speed of light, since a worm hole is considered a topological artifact.

Of course, if no one else was aware of your worm hole you could freak them out by one day showing up on the other side of the universe.

[mlo]

If light traveled faster our planet would burn up and any slower and we would be a ball of ice.

You need a better physics book.

[oldvike]

I'm no physics guy, but even if the particle travels thru the actual worm hole at a speed less than light, does not the theory of relativity mean that the actual speed of that particle is greater than light? *I'll say this again, the only physics I know is from my college class which was several years ago. LOL* Forgive my ignorance.

[UberVernunft]

They are a conceptual convenience, but only insofar as they allow easy tracking of the integrals needed for the complete calculation. The diagrams and the integrals do represent reality however.

Of course.

[UberVernunft]

The diagrams and the integrals do represent reality however. The evidence is in the accuracy and precision obtained from the calculations in their description of reality.

The calculations are part of a theoretical description. Integrals are mathematical entities, with no necessary link to any physical phenomena. The important aspect of this is the theory used in desribing the phenomena.

You could use a purely numerical approach in calculating these effects without ever utilizing a Feynman diagram or an integral.

[ohmage]

Titus 3:9-11 -- "But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless. Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned. "

Prefaced by a mystery bounded by a riddle surrounded by an enigma... Wisdom!

Thanks, Mark. Amongst other things, Titus' observations can surely save the bandwidth round these parts.

[BlackbirdSST]

"Nothing can travel faster than the speed of sound." "A nuclear explosion inside our atmosphere will undoubtedly cause an uncontrollable chain reaction that will ignite the atmoshpere and incinerate the Earth." I'm with ya blood. No one can concieve it or reproduce it, therefore it can't be. What will tomorrow bring? Nothing? Have we seen it all? I don't think so. Physical Law's were made to be broken. Blackbird.

[RightWhale]

There's more.

A human being riding on a train moving more than 30 miles per hour will asphyxiate.

A self-powered heavier than air flying machine has never flown.
-Scientific American 3 years after Kitty Hawk.

[UberVernunft]

I'm no physics guy, but even if the particle travels thru the actual worm hole at a speed less than light, does not the theory of relativity mean that the actual speed of that particle is greater than light?

If you were not aware of a worm hole, it would *seem* like particles could travel faster than the speed of light, but technically they would still be travelling less than or equal to the speed of light.