Speed of light

[T.R.D.]

This is a question.

Is it possible to go beyond the speed of light, or to accelerate an object past the speed of light?

 

[My Higher Self]

I remember reading some time ago, where some researchers had proven yes, apparently when light passes through a translucent object, it does so instantaneously, to prove this they had some setup where they could cross two light "particles" if you will, with sensors at the end of the path to show which one got there first, but when fired at the same time they would collide so neither sensor would go off. Then, they placed a 1/4" translucent piece of material in the path of one beam, and its sensor would trigger first.

Sorry I don't have more detail, I just remember the article, as it was really, rather fascinating.

 

[Jet Black]

well there are quantum tunneling effects as described in the above post, but generally, according to current theory, no.

 

[OneLargeToe]

This is a question.

Is it possible to go beyond the speed of light, or to accelerate an object past the speed of light?

I don't think it will ever be possible to actually physically push an object past the speed of the light. Einstein's Theory of General Relativity prohibits that and we all know Einstein was a genius. So we'll have none of that!

The question remains, though, is how fast can space itself move. It's believed that during the early stages of the big bang, space expanded faster than light. So it may be possible to devise a way to accelerate space around an object (spaceship) to superluminal speeds.

 

[OneLargeToe]

Actually, here's a great (and fun) website on the subject:

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/PAO/warp.htm

 

[ThePhoenix]

I don't think it will ever be possible to actually physically push an object past the speed of the light. Einstein's Theory of General Relativity prohibits that and we all know Einstein was a genius. So we'll have none of that!

The question remains, though, is how fast can space itself move. It's believed that during the early stages of the big bang, space expanded faster than light. So it may be possible to devise a way to accelerate space around an object (spaceship) to superluminal speeds.

Well, not really, since the energy involved in compressing and expanding space is, well, high. Yeah, lets leave it at high.

 

[Knight]

What about Warp Drive????

Seriously, I do not think it is beyond the realm of possibility that we will one day be able to travel fater than light.

Einstien's theory was just that. A theory. He would probably have been teh first to tell you he may be wrong.

 

[obediah001]

As for the speed of light we now know it is not constant & is actually slowing down (entropy); in fact I have read in a science pub year or so ago that the spped of light can be & has been slowed down to as slowe as 38 mph. It is beyond my understanding but I read it. You can refrence it at drdino.com

 

[ThePhoenix]

As for the speed of light we now know it is not constant & is actually slowing down (entropy); in fact I have read in a science pub year or so ago that the spped of light can be & has been slowed down to as slowe as 38 mph. It is beyond my understanding but I read it. You can refrence it at drdino.com

Yeah... lets not go there.

 

[MartinM]

As for the speed of light we now know it is not constant & is actually slowing down (entropy)

Cobblers. Where on Earth did you get that...oh. Hovind. Right.

in fact I have read in a science pub year or so ago that the spped of light can be & has been slowed down to as slowe as 38 mph

Group velocity != phase velocity

It is beyond my understanding

There's nothing I could possibly say here that wouldn't be offensive.

You can refrence it at drdino.com

Nor here.

 

[Arikay]

Heh. The speed of light has been slowed down by scientists (remember c does not equal "speed of light" )

However, c Decay (that c was faster in the past and is now slower) is false.

As for the speed of light we now know it is not constant & is actually slowing down (entropy); in fact I have read in a science pub year or so ago that the spped of light can be & has been slowed down to as slowe as 38 mph. It is beyond my understanding but I read it. You can refrence it at drdino.com

 

[ThePhoenix]

Anyway, he's sorta correct, by placing light in a highly unfriendly medium you can force cascade absorbation and reemision of photons that amounts to slowing down light, but the light travels at the same speed (it just hits an electron, which moves into a high energy orbital, and then proceeds to reemit the photon and move back into a lower energy orbital), a kind of slowing I guess. I can't possibly imagine that Hovind didn't misrepresent this though...

 

[obediah001]

You are wrong the speed of light can be slown down which does prove it is not a constant & is subject to the laws of thermodynamics as is all of creation.
Do a search on it as I said prevoiusly.

 

[OneLargeToe]

Is 'slown' a word?

 

[Arikay]

Maybe you should do more reading before you make funny claims.

Apparent speed of Light
Speed of Light
and c

Are all different things I believe (although speed of light and c might have the same speed, they still hold a slightly different definition).

You are wrong the speed of light can be slown down which does prove it is not a constant & is subject to the laws of thermodynamics as is all of creation.
Do a search on it as I said prevoiusly.

 

[ThePhoenix]

I explained the mechanism for this supposed "slowing" in my post btw.

 

[MartinM]

You are wrong the speed of light can be slown down which does prove it is not a constant & is subject to the laws of thermodynamics as is all of creation

You're confusing the speed of light in vacuo, which is a constant, with the phase velocity of light in an arbitrary medium. The two are not, in general, equal - indeed, the ratio of the two defines the refractive index of a medium.

Edited to add: Strictly speaking, the ratio c/v defines only the real part of the refractive index. For a medium capable of absorption and refraction, n will be complex.

 

[obediah001]

Speak english its the only language I am (or think am) fluent in. I still insist light is not a constant; hay on top of that some of your evolutioanry friends experts have stated that a black hole (in theory) alters light speed & actually consumes light; intresting though I think they have been watching tooo much Star trek though.

 

[obediah001]

"slown" is ozarkian for "slowed"

 

[Jet Black]

obediah:

the actual constant is the sped of light in a vacuum. people just say speed of light for brevity. it appears slower in a medium because of the relative permittivity of the medium as a result of material interactions and electrical fields within the medium. The speed of light foes not really slow, as such, it just appears to because it is busy interacting. there.