Speed of light broken?

[Wildcard Ky]

German scientists claim to have broken the speed of light barrier.

IF true, this would be the most monumental discovery for humans since electricity. The implications are mindboggling.

Speed of light

 

[R. Richard]

German scientists claim to have broken the speed of light barrier.

IF true, this would be the most monumental discovery for humans since electricity. The implications are mindboggling.

Speed of light

In the 1970s a device called a 'tunnel diode' was discovered [I forget the name of the guy who discovered it.] Very briefly, an electron appears to 'tunnel' through a barrier that it should not be able to breach. At first it was thought that the tunneling electron appeared instantaneously on the far side of the barrier. later it was discovered that some time was required, but that the time was such that the tunneling electron broke the speed of light barrier. The specifics are still not too well understood, at least as of the last time I was involved.

 

[mismused]

delete

 

[WRJames]

If information can be exchanged faster than the speed of light, the entire theory of relativity comes crashing down -- or at least, it has some serious problems. The whole rationale for "relativistic" time dilation is challenged.

 

[Weird Harold]

German scientists claim to have broken the speed of light barrier.

IF true, this would be the most monumental discovery for humans since electricity. The implications are mindboggling.

Speed of light

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.
...
The scientists were investigating a phenomenon called quantum tunnelling, which allows sub-atomic particles to break apparently unbreakable laws.

This "old news" -- Photons ofen act like they have no mass and subatomic particles have been making a mockery of light-speed since the mid-70's.

Quantum Tunneling may have some potential as a FTL communications vector, but I don't know of anyone except idiot reporters who work for sensationalist newspapers that thinks it will lead to FTL space ships or ST style matter transmiters.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Its good to see the Telegraph is taking up the slack for the Weekly World News. Did they see Satan's face in that tunneling photon by any chance?

 

[ms.read]

Hi! thats a humdinger of a theory!

 

[only_more_so]

German scientists claim to have broken the speed of light barrier.

IF true, this would be the most monumental discovery for humans since electricity. The implications are mindboggling.

Speed of light

How do we know it's the same photon? We already know that tachyons travel faster than the speed of light. Impress me with an entire atom. Move something that doesn't have wave-particle duality issues faster than the speed of light and I'll be impressed.

Besides, moving a photon faster than the speed of light is impossible. Because a photon is light! Ergo, however fast it moves is the speed of light. Bwah ha ha ha ha.

 

[Le Jacquelope]

German scientists claim to have broken the speed of light barrier.

IF true, this would be the most monumental discovery for humans since electricity. The implications are mindboggling.

Speed of light

No, it would be the greatest invention ever. Not even since the taming of fire would we have done something that would have as profound an effect on the human species.

Expansion into deep space would be only the start of it.

 

[NippleMuncher]

Its good to see the Telegraph is taking up the slack for the Weekly World News. Did they see Satan's face in that tunneling photon by any chance?

It was Elvis!

 

[Lisa Denton]

"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."

*************************************************************

This is a truly mind-bogglein scientifical discovery, in more ways than one, even if they are wrong with thier theory.

Why? You non-scientific peoples might ask.

Well, they must have invented a way to measure speed at more than 186,000 miles per second, in under 3 feet.

JMO

 

[S-Des]

This is a truly mind-bogglein scientifical discovery, in more ways than one, even if they are wrong with thier theory.

Why? You non-scientific peoples might ask.

Well, they must have invented a way to measure speed at more than 186,000 miles per second, in under 3 feet.

JMO

See and my first thought was, "Broke the speed of light? How the hell are they gonna fix it?"

 

[Lisa Denton]

See and my first thought was, "Broke the speed of light? How the hell are they gonna fix it?"

I was wondering what the hell kinda light they was using, I mean, thats not just a 60 watt bulb is it?

 

[only_more_so]

Also, I'd like to point out they have no evidence that the photon traveled the 3 ft between prisms. It could have teleported. Which would mean that Einstein still isn't wrong.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Well, they must have invented a way to measure speed at more than 186,000 miles per second, in under 3 feet.

JMO

Actually, Lisa, you hit the nail on the head. The speed of light thus far has been measured as time intervals over stellar distances. Now these guys say they are measuring over 3 feet?

I wonder what they have been smoking.

 

[Weird Harold]

Actually, Lisa, you hit the nail on the head. The speed of light thus far has been measured as time intervals over stellar distances. Now these guys say they are measuring over 3 feet?

I wonder what they have been smoking.

One nanosecond is about 18 inches == the distance light travels in one nanosecond.

The speed of light has been measured and is routinely dealt with on a practical basis over distances shorter than one nanometer -- in things like PDAs, laptops, cell phones and GPS receivers.

 

[Lisa Denton]

Actually, Lisa, you hit the nail on the head. The speed of light thus far has been measured as time intervals over stellar distances. Now these guys say they are measuring over 3 feet?

I wonder what they have been smoking.

Alcupoco Gold Lights?

 

[only_more_so]

One nanosecond is about 18 inches == the distance light travels in one nanosecond.

The speed of light has been measured and is routinely dealt with on a practical basis over distances shorter than one nanometer -- in things like PDAs, laptops, cell phones and GPS receivers.

I think more important to the discussion at hand, is that the speed of light was calculated experimentally on very terrestrial scales. Over a hundred years ago they came up with a very good estimate using mirrors and spinning disks, and only needed a few kilometers. Now they only need a few feet to get super accurate measurements.

 

[3113]

Let's wait and see if what they did can be duplicated Remember the "cold fusion" fiasco? It ain't happened until you can make it happen again and again and again....

 

[gauchecritic]

I thought photons got entangled anyway. Maybe they just saw the twin.

Edited to ask: Isn't a photon massless? So no physical object to propel then. No breakage.

 

[CharleyH]

This portion of Einstein's theory has been thought to be on the verge of being sent the way of Newton's gravity - useful, but not quite everything it was thought to be.

Initially, the inflation theory of the universe was introduced by Alan Guth wherein the universe inflated at probably superluminal speeds. That was in the 70s, I believe.

Since then, there has been some theorizing about variable speeds of light, including faster than the presently acknowledged limits. A Portugese physicist, Joao Magueilo, working at various times with Andy Albrecht, and later with Lee Smolin, set forth this theory and wrote a few papers on it. A Canadian, John Moffat, had also previously written a paper on the variable speed of light, but the "prestigious" journals wouldn't publish it, so he self published it on the internet.

Earlier, CERN in Switzerland, I think, had done experiments that haven't been given their just due save by other physicists, that consistently proved that one could communicate faster than the speed of light by far, in fact, simultaneously, and this many times at various rates.

Another Brit, John JoeMacfadden, has postulated that tunneling occurs in our bodies (before we move a muscle, and quite a theory too).

It will bite the dust in due time, I feel certain, by all the smoke that's coming out of the theorizing.

Hi Hon, I LOVE YOUR POSTS! You are right, historically. Let's get jiggy with what the speed of light means to us now. I am guessing ... not much on a practical level.

 

[only_more_so]

I thought photons got entangled anyway. Maybe they just saw the twin.

Edited to ask: Isn't a photon massless? So no physical object to propel then. No breakage.

Photons definately have momentum, otherwise solar sails wouldn't work.

 

[mismused]

delete

 

[mismused]

delete

 

[Weird Harold]

...what the speed of light means to us now. I am guessing ... not much on a practical level.

Got a conventional CRT monitor or TV?
Got a GPS navigator or ON-Star system in your car?
Ever fly in an airplane? (trusting in the istruments and or ATC radar to keep you at the right alitude and away from other aircraft.)

All of those technologies rely on knowing the speed of light.