Scientists 'break speed of light'

[Magic 9-Ball]

According to this article: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=paLight_Wed_1745_Speed_of_light&show_article=1&cat=0
have claimed to make photons travel faster than the speed of light. At least, that's their theory.

There's no data, other than how they came to that conclusion.

One quote: "For the time being, this is the only violation of special relativity that I know of." (He should read the thread on ending sentences with a preposition).

You would think there would be a little more notoriety, a little more information, or a little more reporting on something quite so important, wouldn’t you?

 

[Belz...]

If the particles don't actually cross the distance, then they can't really be said to travel "faster", can they ?

 

[Humphreys]

Breaking news. Scientists break speed of light next tuesday.

 

[Hellbound]

Also breaking news:

Viable, over break-even fusion reactor expected within next 20 years.

String Theory expected to be experimentally verified within next 30 years.

True AI expected within next 25 years.

Did I miss any?

 

[Normal Dude]

Monthes and monthes ago I had heard about this same result / experimenta format; I'll see if I can dredge up a link.

One of my irrational hopes is that someday they manage to break the speed limit in a practicle way. I won't be holding my breath, but it would just be super-duper.

 

[Magic 9-Ball]

Did I miss any?

Well, mass production of perpetual motion machines for one. But if you look at the Sub Forums General Topics, you might have missed, oh, say... 250 - 300 more.

 

[Jimbo07]

There's no data, other than how they came to that conclusion.

No article citation, either.

 

[brodski]

me to that conclusion.

One quote: "For the time being, this is the only violation of special relativity that I know of." (He should read the thread on ending sentences with a preposition)

If you want to speak Latin, speak Latin -- but don't try and impose Latin grammatical rules on English.

In short this is the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I shall not put.

 

[Magic 9-Ball]

No article citation, either.

Yes, noticed that. I went to the "New Scientist" magazine website, but I was unwilling to PAY $4.95 (or even $0.01) for the 'opportunity' rolleyes to read the article. So I used the posted link for the article.

 

[Madalch]

In short this is the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I shall not put.

You clearly don't know about what you are talking.

 

[DRBUZZ0]

Did anyone hear about the scientist who attempted to send a projectile at faster than the speed of light? It worked, but unfortionately it hit his grandfather some time in the 1930's and he ended up not existing... or maybe he did, but in a different reality... or he did exist but found that the world existed as if he did not and....

Well I dunno... it's confusing on a few levels... but ultimately it caused some problems.

 

[Overman]

Just read this...BS meter flying off the hook...

How do you even measure such a speed?

 

[dudalb]

The only scientists I think could break the speed of light is Barry Allen,currently employed by the Central City Police Lab.....

BTW Huntsmen I love your "Fallout Guy" avatar.Where can I download one?

 

[Dumbledore]

Even if this article is creditable, which I severely doubt. The photons are tunneling the added distance, not traveling it as was pointed out earlier. Furthermore, suddenly finding photons who will spontaneously travel faster than the speed of light seems very dubious. Or maybe there claim is that photons that use quantum tunneling can appear to travel faster than light?

 

[Lynx2174]

BTW Huntsmen I love your "Fallout Guy" avatar.Where can I download one?

google "Pipboy".

 

[to.by]

Photons travelling faster than light...

Translated:

Light travelling faster than light....

Hmmm?

 

[Cello Man]

There was a young lad named Dwight
Whose speed was faster than light
He left one day, in a relative way
And came back on the previous night.

 

[Madalch]

There was a young fencer named Fisk
Whose blade was exceedingly brisk
When he sprang into action
The Lorentz Contraction
Turned his foil into a disk.

 

[Dumbledore]

Photons travelling faster than light...

Translated:

Light travelling faster than light....

Hmmm?

I believe that would mean that these photons are traveling faster than the speed of light. The speed at which all other photons travel at. Or am I simply being too serious?

 

[Cuddles]

From the New Scientist article

Aephraim Steinberg, a quantum optics expert at the University of Toronto, Canada, doesn't dispute Nimtz and Stahlhofen's results. However, Einstein can rest easy, he says. The photons don't violate relativity: it's just a question of interpretation.

Steinberg explains Nimtz and Stahlhofen's observations by way of analogy with a 20-car bullet train departing Chicago for New York. The stopwatch starts when the centre of the train leaves the station, but the train leaves cars behind at each stop. So when the train arrives in New York, now comprising only two cars, its centre has moved ahead, although the train itself hasn't exceeded its reported speed.

It's a perfectly reasonable experiment with an entirely possible outcome. The only question is over the conclusions being drawn from the data. It's certainly not BS in any way.

The actual paper can be found here.

How do you even measure such a speed?

You measure the difference in time between photons travelling different distances. In this experiment the photons that tunneled travelled further than ones which were reflected, but they both arrived at the same time (to the prescision possible with the equipment).