'We have broken speed of light'

Telegraph ^ | 8/16/07 | Nick Fleming

[LibWhacker]

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."

[Candor7]

‘Spooky action at a distance’?>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

You are right on that. Reminds me of Saturday night at the movies as a pubescent teen, applied to physics?

Neat!

I hope everyone realizes that , if true, this means that time travel IS indeed possible, both to the future , and more difficult, into the past.

So if Hillery wins, we can just come back and ........... ........................................................ ........................................................ ........................................................ ......................JIMMY THE CHADS!

LOL.

[MNJohnnie]

I agree. 1st thought that popped into my head reading this “Didn’t we hear all this about Cold Fusion”?

[zeugma]

The light didn’t arrive at the destination before it left it’s point of origin.... it arrived before it was DETECTED (at the destination) to have left. HUGE difference..... the former represents a logical paradox, the latter simply represents our limitations of being able to MEASURE a phenominom.

Yours is one of the best descriptions of this I've ever seen. Too bad it is something reporters are incapable of understanding. 

[70times7]

I think we are both desperately lacking a rim shot...

[xzins]

We have broken the speed of light....Well they better fix it and soon. I utilize the speed of light frequently and I’m not at all happy about this."

Don't worry about it. I broke mine, and used some 100-mile-an-hour tape. It'll fix anything. Learned that in the Army.

I've got the speed of light down to about Autobahn cruising speed, and everything's just fine.

[aruanan]

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.

What they and other have claimed to do with entangled photons is not breaking the speed of light. No thing is being propelled at more than 186,000 miles per second. As far as the special relativity is concerned, it really cannot prohibit the use of such a phenomenon for communication since communication is not a thing but a social construct, a mutually agreed upon set of expectations of what a particular symbology is meant to convey. But nothing subject to light speed restrictions is actually being physically conveyed across space or time.

[Gamecock]

Once again I cooked my rear brakes cruising the autobahn.

On a side note, this stuff might be the duct tape of the 21st century.

[Republic]

roflmao! to rich for words

[Alamo-Girl]

LOLOL!

[Alamo-Girl]

Jeepers!

[Paul Ross]

Bump. Good point.

[SunkenCiv]

:’) different research, related:

Scientists Mess with the Speed of Light (breaking the speed limit, sort of)
pure energy systems | 19 aug 05 | Ker Than
Posted on 08/24/2005 9:02:52 PM EDT by Arkie2
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1470073/posts