We have broken the speed of light

[Bernard_Monsha]

We may now conquer the galaxy in the name of Wal-mart!


'We have broken speed of light' (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/08/16/scispeed116.xml)
By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 16/08/2007


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."

[Soluzar]

This sure does sound impressive, but I'll wait for a little while before I start booking my next vacation on Centauri Prime. I've see enough cases in the media of falsified research that I'm a little wary of anything that seems too incredible to be true.

[Sendo Takeshi]

Cool. Now we can run really, really, fast.

[Caine]

As has been pointed out elsewhere
1) we've known about tunneliing for a while
2) This isn't actually moving past light speed, its shortening the distance that must be moved
3) this hasn't been peer reviewd but ahs been released to the media? nothing suspicious there.
4) I'll be impressed when we've gone to plaid

[Bernard_Monsha]

This sure does sound impressive, but I'll wait for a little while before I start booking my next vacation on Centauri Prime.

Don't play cards with a Centauri it is unsanitary.

[Evil_Koala]

Damn Germans beat us to it...Whatever it is...

This is all good and nice but how does it affect ME?

[Grizzbob]

As has been pointed out elsewhere
1) we've known about tunneliing for a while
2) This isn't actually moving past light speed, its shortening the distance that must be moved
3) this hasn't been peer reviewd but ahs been released to the media? nothing suspicious there.
4) I'll be impressed when we've gone to plaid

"Colonel Sanders, take us to LUDICROUS SPEED!!"
"No, not Ludicrous Speed!!!":P

[trancemaster261]

this could get interesting. i read that if anything got up to the speed of light, it would explode due to the massive amount of energy it would need.are these scientists still alive?

[earsofdoom]

Go to warp four on my signal.

[Hara!]

In before the LHC kills us all.

[master terrence]

I think they just improved the microwave in all honesty :/

I'm not impressed until one of those photons travel 186,000 miles in a second.

[Nano]

Those Germans are just rar too fast, too furious, too fast, too furious, too fast, too fast for ya'll.

[CrossboneGundam]

I think they just improved the microwave in all honesty :/

I'm not impressed until one of those photons travel 186,000 miles in a second.

I think you just missed your short bus.

Photons are units of light. They ALL travel 186,000 miles per second, guy. That's why it's called the speed of light.

[Hara!]

As has been pointed out elsewhere
1) we've known about tunneliing for a while
2) This isn't actually moving past light speed, its shortening the distance that must be moved
3) this hasn't been peer reviewd but ahs been released to the media? nothing suspicious there.
4) I'll be impressed when we've gone to plaid

I think they just improved the microwave in all honesty :/

I'm not impressed until one of those photons travel 186,000 miles in a second.

We will never have flying cars in our lifetime. HIV will not be cured. I will never be in space. I will not have a jetpack. I will not have sex with a green alien woman or a robot sex slave.

Now can I please lie to myself about this? Just once? Is it wrong to be happy?

[Sushikins]

Sounds cool, though I'm not gonna be too interested until they can make something like Light Speed Travel practical.

[master terrence]

whats wrong with faster microwaves?

and how come you can't have a robot sex slave?

[CrossboneGundam]

We will never have flying cars in our lifetime. HIV will not be cured. I will never be in space. I will not have a jetpack. I will not have sex with a green alien woman or a robot sex slave.

Now can I please lie to myself about this? Just once? Is it wrong to be happy?

Just because you're too poor for any of it (except a cure for HIV, but there's no "cure" for any virus,) doesn't mean it doesn't exist or happen.

There are flying cars, space tourists (and private space tourism programs in the works, courtesy of those guys who made the first private spacecraft flight a couple years back,) and jetpacks.

[earsofdoom]

I will never be in space. I will not have a jetpack. I will not have sex with a green alien woman or a robot sex slave.

Now can I please lie to myself about this? Just once? Is it wrong to be happy?

You could have sex with Paris Hilton, she's techniquely both. (sorry i ruined you fantasy with such vile images corncopp :( )

[KatayokuのTenshi]

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.

Forgive my complete ignorance but wouldn't you just need something that dosen't have any mass?

You can go on your trip Soluzar, if you start dieting now. :P

[MonkeyBoy0314]

Maybe we can finally locate Cybertron and establish first contact with the Transformers

[SlackerDude]

I will not have sex with a green alien woman or a robot sex slave.

You've been fantasizing about that? O.o

[Soluzar]

You can go on your trip Soluzar, if you start dieting now. :P
Then if I overeat on my trip I can't get home, and you know what kind of sybaritic lifestyles the Centauri have. I'm not sure I like the place that much, after all, I'm a keen poker player, and like Bernard said... that just ain't the place to play it.

[guyverfanboy]

Cool. When can we travel in space?! :D

[KatayokuのTenshi]

Cool. When can we travel in space?! :D
When you become a photon.

[Fobb]

Well, now that that's out of the way, I think the only thing left before lightspeed vacations are possible is the little problem we face regarding inertia? Our bodies wouldn't be able to stand that many G's would it? Unless the speed of light physics are completely backwards or something.

And someone explain that little thing about reaching a destination before we left thing to me please?

[Leader Desslock]

They could invent a faster than light vehicle tomorrow, and I wouldn't have anything to do with it. Why? Because the article only says that scientists managed to get a particle to move faster than the speed of light. It says nothing about slowing it down afterwards.

Think about it - would you test drive a car with no brakes? Especially a really, really fast car?

And someone explain that little thing about reaching a destination before we left thing to me please?
It's something that happens to subatomic particles when they hit 88 MPH, provided 1.21 gigawatts are available.

[Fobb]

It's something that happens to subatomic particles when they hit 88 MPH, provided 1.21 gigawatts are available.

I guess the only way to put it is:


That's freakin' crazy.


Srsly

[KatayokuのTenshi]

^ Do you want to tell him or should I?

[Caine]

^ Do you want to tell him or should I?

Great Scott!

[Merryl]

:lol: now we can go nowhere faster than the speed of light ...

[Delta-Pheonix]

Maybe we can finally locate Cybertron and establish first contact with the Transformers

But the amount of energon we'd need to get would be *Checks calculator* alot!

[Scandiadream]

This is the second message board where I see this piece of news. I have not read it in Yahoo or MSN or anywhere else. So are you sure it is not a hoax?

[Bernard_Monsha]

This is the second message board where I see this piece of news. I have not read it in Yahoo or MSN or anywhere else. So are you sure it is not a hoax?

If it is they fooled MSNBC, Rueters, and New Scientist

[Soluzar]

If it is they fooled MSNBC, Rueters, and New Scientist
They wouldn't be the first, though. I bet there's at least a chance you've heard of Jan Hendrik Schön (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Hendrik_Sch%C3%B6n). I admit that as a Wikipedia link it's not much of a source, but my intention is only to jog your memory rather than to prove anything in particular.

[Bernard_Monsha]

If I remember last year there was another study done with a certain kind of material that has, what, something like a negative refractive index or something. When you'd put a pulse of light into it, the pulse would actually emerge before you put the pulse into it, and would travel from the endpoint back to the source. I wish I had the article still :/

So I do not find it omprobable that they have done this.

[Soluzar]

If I remember last year there was another study done with a certain kind of material that has, what, something like a negative refractive index or something. When you'd put a pulse of light into it, the pulse would actually emerge before you put the pulse into it, and would travel from the endpoint back to the source. I wish I had the article still :/
I wish you had the article still, too. Not because I want to disagree with you, just because I find that fascinating in the extreme. I can only begin to imagine the implications and the applications of something like that with my level of education. It's times like this I wish I was smarter.