Sci/Tech Scientists break speed of light

[The Helper]

Scientists have finally exceeded the speed of light, causing a light pulse to travel hundreds of times faster than normal. It raced so fast the pulse exited a specially-prepared chamber before it even finished entering it.

The experiment is the first-ever evidence of faster-than-light motion.

The result appears to be at odds with one of the basic principles of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, that nothing can go faster than the speed of light in a vacuum, about 186,000 miles per second.

However, Lijun Wang, one of the scientists from the NEC Research Institute in Princeton, N.J., says their findings are not at odds with Einstein.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/scientists-break-speed-of-light-1.225646

 

[Amfidamant]

Interesting!

Who knows, after some time we all might live like in Star Wars/Start Trek / You name it

 

[AceHart]

> After some time we all might live like in Star Wars / Star Trek / You name it

Asylum?

 

[Exide]

Sounds neat, but can they actually put this breakthrough to any use?
Maybe super fast fiber optic-broadband, perhaps?

 

[AceHart]

> Maybe super fast fiber optic-broadband, perhaps?

Not really. The entire Internet would fly by so fast you won't have any time looking at it...

 

[Demi666]

wounder how long it would take to travel to pluto with that kind of speed

 

[Andrewgosu]

Well, light takes about 8 minutes to travel from Sun to Earth and 5.5 hours to travel to Pluto.

So, hundreds of times faster means hundreds of times quicker. about 300 times faster, to be exact, according to the article.

The key to the experiment was that the pulse reformed before it could have gotten there by simply travelling through empty space. This means that, when the waves of the light distorted, the pulse traveled forward in time.

Time traveling. Nice!

 

[Demi666]

well if i wanna calculate it what shud i take?

distance splitted in 300? or..? i dont understand help me figure out how long it would take to pluto please(A) if u want

 

[Corleone]

And how exactly did they measure the speed? If it's faster than the speed of light, then no computer can keep up with it.

Also;

The NEC experiment caused a pulse of light, a group of waves with no mass, to go faster than light.

Since when does light have no mass? If light can provide us with energy ( solar energy ), and the light has no mass, then E=MC^2 would be wrong.

However, Lijun Wang, one of the scientists from the NEC Research Institute in Princeton, N.J., says their findings are not at odds with Einstein.

 

[Andrewgosu]

well if i wanna calculate it what shud i take?

distance splitted in 300? or..? i dont understand help me figure out how long it would take to pluto please(A) if u want

Well, if the light travels to Pluto in 5.5 hours, divide it by 300 and there you have it. 300 times faster, 0,0183(3) hours. That would be 1,1 minutes.

Given of course, my calculations are correct.

 

[Demi666]

ur smart

 

[Exide]

> Maybe super fast fiber optic-broadband, perhaps?

Not really. The entire Internet would fly by so fast you won't have any time looking at it...

But imagine how fast it would be to download a movie or computer game, or whatnot.
I guess the hard drive would set the limit, though..

 

[Andrewgosu]

An internet connection, as fast as light or even faster? I wonder how big the cord diameter would be...Probably measured in jumbo jets.

 

[Andrewgosu]

Sorry for double posting, but I think I can afford myself this luxury once in awhile.

ASince when does light have no mass? If light can provide us with energy ( solar energy ), and the light has no mass, then E=MC^2 would be wrong.

Light is composed of photons and basically, a photon is a massless particle.

Is there any experimental evidence that the photon has zero rest mass?

Basically, not, not really. Theoretical.

So...

 

[Corleone]

Sorry for double posting, but I think I can afford myself this luxury once in awhile.



Light is composed of photons and basically, a photon is a massless particle.

Is there any experimental evidence that the photon has zero rest mass?

Basically, not, not really. Theoretical.

So...

Well, If photons have no mass, but light still gives us solar energy, then E=MC^2 can't be right, because it would be Energy = 0 * Speed of Light^2 = 0. So either Einstein was wrong ( which is quite possible, of course ) or Photon's have a mass.

 

[Andrewgosu]

Well, this is beyond me, but maybe the following link helps to clear something up.

http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/ParticleAndNuclear/photonMass.html

 

[Exide]

An internet connection, as fast as light or even faster? I wonder how big the cord diameter would be...Probably measured in jumbo jets.

Well, I don't know much about that but.
Fiber optics = electrons that are "converted" into light, sent away and then converted back into electrons again, right?
If that's the case, it wouldn't have to be very thick at all.
But it would be slowed down in each end, (when the electrons move) since they don't move as fast as light.

I might be way wrong, though.

 

[Rinpun]

Photons are light particles--mass traveling at the speed of light. At the speed of light or greater, the mass is traditionally said to be "non-existent" because at the speed of light all mass transforms into energy. This is in concordance with Einstein's E=mc^2 and the rest of our current understandings.

It's not really time travel btw, it's more of taking less time to move forward in time--to the point where time is relative. The same effect can be temporarily achieved by crossing time zones. The lame way to achieve this effect is to seal yourself in a box for ten years. You're spending time at the rate of normal time and when you come out it will be ten years later.

 

[phyrex1an]

>If that's the case, it wouldn't have to be very thick at all.
Acctualy a fiber optic cable is 'slower' when it's thick. This is because the light has to travel a further distance when it bounces on the walls of the cable.

 

[InfectedWithDrew]

All I have to say is wow.