Einstein's relativity theory hits a speed bump

www.theage.com.au ^ | August 8 2002 | David Wroe

[Tomalak]

How sad. Perhaps one day he will be remembered only for inventing nuclear weapons.

---

Conservative Commentary - Up the minute Conservative news and views

---

[Commie Basher]

More proof that sedentary people die sooner.

[AdA$tra]

It makes more sense that light would not be immune to the other"laws" of physics, IMHO. It also makes sense that the degradation would be slow enough to seem constant from our frame of reference. Of course I am no Einstein.

[IronJack]

string theory, M-theory and all these other sexy topics ...

Hey, I like mental gymnastics as much as the next person, but if THIS is what you find "sexy," you need to get out of the lab more often, Perfessor.

[SubMareener]

Duh?

[Steve Eisenberg]

How sad. Perhaps one day he will be remembered only for inventing nuclear weapons.

Einstein? His contributions are no more diminished by scientific advance than were Newton's. Special and general relativity have been proven spectacularly by experiment, over and over.

Also, Einstein did not invent nuclear weapons. His biggest contribution, as far as nuclear weapons is concerned, was in advising FDR to start the Manhattan Project, but Einstein didn't work on inventing the weapons himself.

Read one of several good biographies of Einstein and one of the popularized books on relativity such as "Relativity for the Millions" by Martin Gardner. Do not be intimidated by the elitest nonsense that you have to be some kind of genius to understand relativity.

[It'salmosttolate]

I once played golf with someone who caddied for Albert E.
I asked him how good he was at golf. He replied:EXCELLENT!, but only in theory.

[Larry Lucido]

they have concluded that the speed of light has slowed down over time

No doubt due to excessive hydrocarbon emissions.

[Backwoods Southern Lawyer]

It seems that just when we get arrogant enough to think we about have it figured out, God throws us a curve.

[Soul Citizen]

EM aging increase affect at cellular level.

warping of the magnetic field causing premature aging.

Velocity increase from warped field appearance of speeding time?

Question how much influence does powerlines (large transport) have on warping electromagnetic field as far as being able to measure the impact on the velocity of light absent a vacume-Earth atmosphere.

What is the impact on biological processes?



What were the findings of the clocks- how off??

[Batrachian]

Einstein did not invent nuclear weapons, although he may well be remembered for it, the state of education being what it is in this country. No one person can be said to have invented the bomb, although such men as Edward Teller, Enrico Fermi, and Richard Feynman where instrumental in its development. Einstein was never officially part of the Manhattan Project, but he was the one who wrote the famous letter to Roosevelt urging him to build the bomb before the Germans did.

[Pontiac]

A vacuum, far from being empty, is teeming with quantum "virtual" particles that flit in and out of existence.

I guess I have not been keeping up with particle physics. This “virtual “ particle that flits I and out of existence is a new one on me. This harkens back to the theory of spontaneous creation of mater.

[chance33_98]

Black hole theory suggests light is slowing also posted there with a few interesting comments.

[TigersEye]

News that the speed of light may not be constant...

Constant? In relation to what?

The planet is in motion, the solar system is in motion, the galaxy is in motion...
Where is the fixed point of reference to determine the true speed of any of these objects? All galaxies are in motion and the rate of decline of that motion may differ from one to another. If the speed of light is calculated on earth at one point in time the speed of the planets motion in relation to some fixed point would have to be established to compare to a reading taken at another point in time also taking into account solar system motion, galaxy motion and the motion of any group of galaxies our galaxy may have a specific relation to relative to their previous speeds. But relative to what?

How fast is our universe moving? And relative to what?

If the galaxy was moving slower in the past then the speed of light would have appeared to be faster then compared to a reading taken now. So maybe things are speeding up not slowing down!

If there were a so called 'fixed object' would light there, perhaps, move infinitely fast? Meaning it's back from everywhere the moment it leaves?

Or perhaps the only true fixed object is light itself. Which means we're going slower than a standstill. ; )

[MSSC6644]

It seems that just when we get arrogant enough to think we about have it figured out, God throws us a curve.

I agree. Some people never seem to learn.

[onedoug]

It's all a bunch of relativistic relativism.

[jimkress]

If one looks at Supersymmetric String Theory and its multidimensional representation of space-time, the interaction of light with the other 8 spatial dimensions could predict the apparent "slowing" of the speed of light.

[jimkress]

As a working scientist, I view my research as an effort to understand what God hath wrought.