Can we travel at the speed of light?

[flyingdutchman]

I was talking with my friend the other day about how the speed was sound was broken by the Thrust SCC supercar in 1997 and so I have a question, if there was a rocket that could go as fast as the speed of light, will man be able to make a journey out of our solar system and back? Or would he die through aging?

[king_george]

No according to relativity nothing (except light) can travel at the speed of light.

This explains it better than I can

http://www.physorg.com/news12084.html

[Kasakato]

Did you just ask that? :|

[marcroboy]

yea if you are jesus

[Kasakato]

And FWIW, the car your referring to broke the sound barrier.

[board123]

No according to relativity nothing (except light) can travel at the speed of light.

This explains it better than I can

http://www.physorg.com/news12084.html
This explains nothing. This thread is not about exceeding the speed of light; it's about traveling at the speed of light.

Anything can travel at the speed of light. Radio waves travel at the speed of light. The space-time warping effect of gravity travels at the speed of light.

The speed light is not only the speed for light, it's the speed of all electromagnetic radiation. Also, the limit is not set by electromagnetic radiation. It's the other way around -- 2.9979 x 10^8 m/s is simply the fastest speed anything can travel at in a vacuum, and it just so happens that electromagnetic radiation reaches that limit. If you look up the derivation for the speed of light, you will see that it has nothing to do with light.

PS: Here's a link of how c was derived.

http://cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/270/Deriving-the-Speed-of-Light

You see that c came from two fundamental constants in classical physics - permeability constant and permittivity constant.

[mingyang]

This explains nothing. This thread is not about exceeding the speed of light; it's about traveling at the speed of light.

Anything can travel at the speed of light. Radio waves travel at the speed of light. The space-time warping effect of gravity travels at the speed of light.

The speed light is not only the speed for light, it's the speed of all electromagnetic radiation. Also, the limit is not set by electromagnetic radiation. It's the other way around -- 2.9979 x 10^8 m/s is simply the fastest speed anything can travel at in a vacuum, and it just so happens that electromagnetic radiation reaches that limit. If you look up the derivation for the speed of light, you will see that it has nothing to do with light.

PS: Here's a link of how c was derived.

http://cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/270/Deriving-the-Speed-of-Light

You see that c came from two fundamental constants in classical physics - permeability constant and permittivity constant.

Good Game

[freddy65]

The answer is No.

[Ziggy007]

I am no scientist but I believe to reach that speed you need a near infinite amount of energy, and since we are still burning coal plans I think we are a far way away :lol:

[gilboman]

I am no scientist but I believe to reach that speed you need a near infinite amount of energy, and since we are still burning coal plans I think we are a far way away :lol:

what if we find some super coal?:lol: :lol:

[najibs]

FYI, There's a HUGE difference between 750mph vs 600 million mph. Not only that, the next galaxy is some thousand light years from here, which means you'd have to sit in your space ship for a few thousand years while traveling at the speed of light, before making it there. Have fun.

[king_george]

This explains nothing. This thread is not about exceeding the speed of light; it's about traveling at the speed of light.

Anything can travel at the speed of light. Radio waves travel at the speed of light. The space-time warping effect of gravity travels at the speed of light.

The speed light is not only the speed for light, it's the speed of all electromagnetic radiation. Also, the limit is not set by electromagnetic radiation. It's the other way around -- 2.9979 x 10^8 m/s is simply the fastest speed anything can travel at in a vacuum, and it just so happens that electromagnetic radiation reaches that limit. If you look up the derivation for the speed of light, you will see that it has nothing to do with light.

PS: Here's a link of how c was derived.

http://cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/270/Deriving-the-Speed-of-Light

You see that c came from two fundamental constants in classical physics - permeability constant and permittivity constant.

Very true and informative but let me qualify. Nothing with mass can travel at the speed of light. Everything that can travel at the speed of light is virtually massless. IIRC as speed builds up so does mass so we might travel really really close to the speed of light but never neet nor exceed it without the volume of mass becoming infinite.

Until someone invents a warp drive or something then we are stuck here in our one little backwater solar system. >:(

But not to derail too much, nobody in our lifetime will ever have to worry about what the OP mentions.

[aquariaguy]

maybe if you strap yourself to a nuclear bomb

[TapemanPL]

maybe if you strap yourself to a nuclear bomb

i don't think you understand the speed of light

[Setz]

IIRC, as you approach the speed of light, your mass approaches infinity. Kind of says something when electrons travel at the speed of light, yet are (virtually) massless.

[jnfr]

From physics class- something about how if you travel at the speed of light, you age slower. But again, that's if you do, of course, practically, we cannot.

... anyways this is going to turn into a pretty legendary thread.

[Logos88]

It'd take an infinite amount of energy to accelerate you (or anything with mass) to the speed of light. Einstein's theory does not prohibit things that are already traveling at or faster than the speed of light.

So, somehow find a way to discontinuously "jump" to the speed of light...

[jadoocian]

if you were to travel at the speed of light, time for you would be completely stopped.

[board123]

maybe if you strap yourself to a nuclear bomb
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/4582/lolwutzj1.jpg

[goob3r]

Light's mother travels faster than light.

[Talamasca]

Can someone please invent warp drive soon? Please? :D

[at1212b]

Can someone please invent warp drive soon? Please? :D

Forget warp drive... the Transporter!

[corrupt123]

This explains nothing. This thread is not about exceeding the speed of light; it's about traveling at the speed of light.

Anything can travel at the speed of light. Radio waves travel at the speed of light. The space-time warping effect of gravity travels at the speed of light.

The speed light is not only the speed for light, it's the speed of all electromagnetic radiation. Also, the limit is not set by electromagnetic radiation. It's the other way around -- 2.9979 x 10^8 m/s is simply the fastest speed anything can travel at in a vacuum, and it just so happens that electromagnetic radiation reaches that limit. If you look up the derivation for the speed of light, you will see that it has nothing to do with light.

PS: Here's a link of how c was derived.

http://cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/270/Deriving-the-Speed-of-Light

You see that c came from two fundamental constants in classical physics - permeability constant and permittivity constant.

Hmm, I don't mean to contest but are you sure on that point? I recall speaking with a physics teacher of mine (albeit, highschool physics) and he explained to me that scientists had just opened up a whole other can of worms when they questioned the speed of gravity. My understanding of what he was trying to say is that if a mass suddenly appeared x distance from earth and was emitting light, we would feel the effects of that masses gravity before we saw it's light. If I recall correctly, he said (or guessed) that we should feel gravity instantly. Hence the term "gravitron" - a term coined to actually account for the gravity and it's speed. "While both massless, the speed of a gravitron is faster than the speed of a photon."

[najibs]

Light's mother travels faster than light.

and Farts travel at the speed of sound...

[Setz]

and Farts travel at the speed of sound...

Depends if the consider the sound a fart, or the expulsion of gasses a fart.

[deep]

Actually, there is no proof that we cannot travel faster than the speed of light. It is only proven that we cannot accelerate something with mass from a speed lower than that of light to a speed equal to or greater than the speed of light.

There are many theoretical (and mostly impractical) ways to travel faster than light. Not something I expect to see in the next few lifetimes, but who knows.

[zoolander]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wormhole#Traversable_wormholes

http://i.usatoday.net/life/_photos/2007/08/20/celebwatch-quintox.jpg

[Setz]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wormhole#Traversable_wormholes

http://i.usatoday.net/life/_photos/2007/08/20/celebwatch-quintox.jpg

Is this the theory that you can contract the space in front of you, and expand the space behind you to propel you forward? What a load of crap.

[zoolander]

Hence presented as a question, I do not support either way.

[Rekognize]

Two words: Flux Capacitor

Here's how:

http://www.cedmagic.com/featured/back-to-the-future/flux-capacitor-schematic.jpg

[deep]

Is this the theory that you can contract the space in front of you, and expand the space behind you to propel you forward? What a load of crap.
Your refutation is concise, accurate, and well explained. An unparallelled foray into the scientific method. I salute you.

[board123]

Hmm, I don't mean to contest but are you sure on that point? I recall speaking with a physics teacher of mine (albeit, highschool physics) and he explained to me that scientists had just opened up a whole other can of worms when they questioned the speed of gravity. My understanding of what he was trying to say is that if a mass suddenly appeared x distance from earth and was emitting light, we would feel the effects of that masses gravity before we saw it's light. If I recall correctly, he said (or guessed) that we should feel gravity instantly. Hence the term "gravitron" - a term coined to actually account for the gravity and it's speed. "While both massless, the speed of a gravitron is faster than the speed of a photon."
I think your teacher was wrong. Gravitational waves propagates at the same speed as light, so you'd experience both at the same time.

If you suddenly remove the sun from our solar system, the light and gravitational pull would both disappear 8 minutes later here on Earth (disregarding the advanced effects on Mars and Venus).

[Allen84]

Two words: Flux Capacitor

Here's how:

http://www.cedmagic.com/featured/back-to-the-future/flux-capacitor-schematic.jpg


Don't forget the 1.21 Jigawatts needed.

[TapemanPL]

Don't forget the 1.21 Jigawatts needed.

Gigawatts...

[Setz]

Gigawatts...

I'm pretty sure it's Jigawatts, at least in the context of the movie.

[Logos88]

Gigawatts...

Someone missed the joke. :cheesygri

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeLorean_time_machine#.22Jigowatt.22

[board123]

Ludicrouswatt

[Tyler70]

We simply do not have the answer.

[deep]

I'm pretty sure it's Jigawatts, at least in the context of the movie.
The "J" sound is just the British pronunciation of Giga...

[Ozzy]

Does this mean we will never ever contact intelligent alien life?

[ShadowVlican]

Does this mean we will never ever contact intelligent alien life?
but they have already contacted us! :-0 :cheesygri

[Setz]

but they have already contacted us! :-0 :cheesygri

We'll see tomorrow.

[flyingdutchman]

but wait...correct me if Im wrong...

lets see we do invent something that can travel at the speed of light or greater and we put a kid there (lets say 15 yr old) and he goes to the closest galaxy to us and comes back...will have died by then or will he have aged really slow that he would be 80-90 yrs old but over 15 billion years would have passed?

Also wont man break down into smaller particles if he is travelling at the speed of light since there is sooo much G force?

[Logos88]

lets see we do invent something that can travel at the speed of light or greater and we put a kid there (lets say 15 yr old) and he goes to the closest galaxy to us and comes back...will have died by then or will he have aged really slow that he would be 80-90 yrs old but over 15 billion years would have passed?
Time would pass slower for him. When he gets back, he'll find out more years have passed on Earth.

Of course, to himself and the people on Earth, time passes normally. He wouldn't "feel" tiiimmee passssesss sllooooowweeer while on the rocket, because his biologic activities (brainwaves, metabolism etc) and everything else onboard would have also slowed down.

Also wont man break down into smaller particles if he is travelling at the speed of light since there is sooo much G force?

You only experience G force when there's acceleration. You experience no force at constant speed. A person could, in theory, survive near-light speed if he accelerates "slowly".

[toalan]

Infinite amount of energy is required to accelerate to the speed of light, with infinite energy also comes infinite mass, with infinite mass comes infinite gravity, with infinite gravity time will stand still.

If a kid leaves our planet at the speed of light and makes a round trip journey across the universe and comes back, to the kid the journey ended as soon as it started, but there would be nothing to comeback too as everything would have decayed to radiation and sh*t.

[Sepiraph]

This explains nothing. This thread is not about exceeding the speed of light; it's about traveling at the speed of light.

Anything can travel at the speed of light. Radio waves travel at the speed of light. The space-time warping effect of gravity travels at the speed of light.


Well technically radio wave is just EM radiation from a certain wavelength range. The effect of gravity is hypothesized to be carried by graviton, which is a type of boson. So only certain type of bosons are observed to be able to travel at the speed of light, and if I recall correctly they cannot have any rest mass.

[board123]

Well technically radio wave is just EM radiation from a certain wavelength range.
I never implied otherwise.

The effect of gravity is hypothesized to be carried by graviton, which is a type of boson. So only certain type of bosons are observed to be able to travel at the speed of light, and if I recall correctly they cannot have any rest mass.
Yes, in particle physics. In relativity, gravity propagates as gravitational waves in the space-time fabric, which travels at the speed of light.

[flyingdutchman]

Infinite amount of energy is required to accelerate to the speed of light, with infinite energy also comes infinite mass, with infinite mass comes infinite gravity, with infinite gravity time will stand still.

If a kid leaves our planet at the speed of light and makes a round trip journey across the universe and comes back, to the kid the journey ended as soon as it started, but there would be nothing to comeback too as everything would have decayed to radiation and sh*t.


how is that possible? other galaxies are millions of light years away...surely it wont end as soon as it started

[kramerz80]

I hear Ben Johnson came close once...

[at1212b]

Aparently, theoretically, we or something with mass can travel at 99.999999%of the speed of light, but not at 100%.

[BananaHunter]

A forum for thriftly deal hunters is sure to contain people who can provide insights into the secrets of the universe!

I heard the LHC can accelerate the whatever thing to 99.9999% of speed of light?

Despite what you think, scientists understand physics both more and less than you think. Quantum physics is growing in popularity and the answers it provide make no intuitive sense to sane human beings. The Newtonian view of physics being very concrete might be changed. So who knows? Someday, we probably can travel at the speed of light. I think we need to become a human-machine hybrid first before such travelling will work.

[toalan]

how is that possible? other galaxies are millions of light years away...surely it wont end as soon as it started

Once you get to close to speed of light travel, realities will decouple, the kid's reality and our reality are separate. To the kid, travelling enormous distances will seem instantaneous, as time for him would stand still, ie his clock will not move, he will not age. To us though, it would look like the kid is never comming back.

There are so many ******** things that begin to happen once you get close to the speed of light that I do not think we can ever travel at that speed. We might come up with some ghetto hacks that allows us to use wormholes and sh*t, but we will never travel at the speed of light in the literal sense.

[Setz]

Once you get to close to speed of light travel, realities will decouple, the kid's reality and our reality are separate. To the kid, travelling enormous distances will seem instantaneous, as time for him would stand still, ie his clock will not move, he will not age. To us though, it would look like the kid is never comming back.

There are so many ******** things that begin to happen once you get close to the speed of light that I do not think we can ever travel at that speed. We might come up with some ghetto hacks that allows us to use wormholes and sh*t, but we will never travel at the speed of light in the literal sense.

:rolleyes:

If you traveled at the speed of light, that's it, you're traveling at the speed of light. Reality doesn't "decouple" or melt or whatever. Traveling lightyears at the speed of light isn't instantaneous, this is why it's called lightyears. It takes a year to get from A to B at c if it's 1 lightyear.

[board123]

:rolleyes:

If you traveled at the speed of light, that's it, you're traveling at the speed of light. Reality doesn't "decouple" or melt or whatever. Traveling lightyears at the speed of light isn't instantaneous, this is why it's called lightyears. It takes a year to get from A to B at c if it's 1 lightyear.
Yeah, the kid will still feel every second passing by in his frame of reference. It's just that his frame of reference is now different from the Earth's frame of reference (i.e. slower with respect to Earth). On Earth, yes it will seem like the kid's never coming back. To the kid, he was only away for maybe one month, and he will have aged appropriately with respect to his own frame of reference.

Time does not stop. The time in one frame of reference simply slows down with respect to another frame of reference.

[bobbings]

Ask Usain Bolt aka the Lightning Bolt. He apparently thinks he can travel at the speed of light... jk

[Setz]

Yeah, the kid will still feel every second passing by in his frame of reference. It's just that his frame of reference is now different from the Earth's frame of reference (i.e. slower with respect to Earth). On Earth, yes it will seem like the kid's never coming back. To the kid, he was only away for maybe one month, and he will have aged appropriately with respect to his own frame of reference.

Time does not stop. The time in one frame of reference simply slows down with respect to another frame of reference.

Some people would argue that time for people not in your frame of reference (in your example, people of earth), would stop as you approach c.

Thought I should clarify. Let's say you travel at 0.99999c, time would be inversely proportional, so time would be 0.00001 that of which is normal. You can't reach c, so time cannot stop.

You guys ever try to take a clock on the subway or train and notice the difference in time? Synchronize two clocks, have one person at A, and another person rapidly moving from A. The clock at A would be faster than the clock at B, so when the person returns from B to A, the times are desynced.

[Barayolayosa]

http://www.forumspile.com/Blank-Picard_Facepalm.jpg

[Logos88]

Apparently 2 years ago some scientists managed to get light to travel faster than c so that it travels backward in the medium.

http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=2544

[deep]

Some people would argue that time for people not in your frame of reference (in your example, people of earth), would stop as you approach c.

Thought I should clarify. Let's say you travel at 0.99999c, time would be inversely proportional, so time would be 0.00001 that of which is normal. You can't reach c, so time cannot stop.

You guys ever try to take a clock on the subway or train and notice the difference in time? Synchronize two clocks, have one person at A, and another person rapidly moving from A. The clock at A would be faster than the clock at B, so when the person returns from B to A, the times are desynced.
It is not even close to being inversely proportional. You really need to brush up on your physics before chiming in here.

Start here: http://www.fourmilab.ch/cship/timedial.html

[Setz]

It is not even close to being inversely proportional. You really need to brush up on your physics before chiming in here.

Start here: http://www.fourmilab.ch/cship/timedial.html

You need to brush up on your reading comprehension before chiming in here. ;)

[deep]

You need to brush up on your reading comprehension before chiming in here. ;)
Perhaps you'd be so kind to point out the part of your ramble that I misunderstood, rather than making a meaningless "comeback".

[toalan]

Yeah, the kid will still feel every second passing by in his frame of reference. It's just that his frame of reference is now different from the Earth's frame of reference (i.e. slower with respect to Earth). On Earth, yes it will seem like the kid's never coming back. To the kid, he was only away for maybe one month, and he will have aged appropriately with respect to his own frame of reference.

Time does not stop. The time in one frame of reference simply slows down with respect to another frame of reference.


Ok, if you are approaching the speed of light but never get there, time will not stop for the traveller. If the dude gets to the speed of light, his clock will stop.

[TenToesOfDeath]

I bet most of you can travel at the speed of light when you heard there is a very very big sales going on. :D

[LKane1]

I am no scientist but I believe to reach that speed you need a near infinite amount of energy, and since we are still burning coal plans I think we are a far way away :lol:

Not to mention that to stop yourself, you need that same energy.

[board123]

Ok, if you are approaching the speed of light but never get there, time will not stop for the traveller. If the dude gets to the speed of light, his clock will stop.
His clock will stop with respect to a slower frame of reference. His clock will not stop with respect to his own frame of reference. Time in your own frame of reference is always consistent and doesn't "stop." To an outside observer, it does stop.

If you're driving a car at the speed of light, you feel like you're driving normally (just going waaaaay over the speed limit). To someone on the sidewalk, you look like you're just sitting still in the car and not moving at all.

[Kommander_KornFlakes]

-
Wow you guys are behind times and backwards. In 1999 some scientists accelerated particles 27 times faster than the speed of light, where have you guys been?

Also we humans (if we don't kill ourselves and survive 10,000 more years) WILL be able to travel at the speed of light. You guys sound like those skeptics in the 1500's who claimed a human in England would never be able to hear the voice of another human in NYC instantaneously.

You guys don't know what technologies will be discovered, you can't even fathom what our descendants will come up with, so just shut up.

[corrupt123]

You guys don't know what technologies will be discovered, you can't even fathom what our descendants will come up with, so just shut up.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

I don't now if you're trying to be funny or not, but KK you're the king. For walking around like Off Topic's bigger brother all the time, you definitely deserve some recognition.

[Setz]

-
Wow you guys are behind times and backwards. In 1999 some scientists accelerated particles 27 times faster than the speed of light, where have you guys been?

Also we humans (if we don't kill ourselves and survive 10,000 more years) WILL be able to travel at the speed of light. You guys sound like those skeptics in the 1500's who claimed a human in England would never be able to hear the voice of another human in NYC instantaneously.

You guys don't know what technologies will be discovered, you can't even fathom what our descendants will come up with, so just shut up.

I can say with certainty if we are to travel at the speed of light, mainlanders won't be the first to do it (if they do it at all).

[deep]

-
Wow you guys are behind times and backwards. In 1999 some scientists accelerated particles 27 times faster than the speed of light, where have you guys been?
Those particles must have passed right through your cranium.

[LegiT]

-
Wow you guys are behind times and backwards. In 1999 some scientists accelerated particles 27 times faster than the speed of light, where have you guys been?

Also we humans (if we don't kill ourselves and survive 10,000 more years) WILL be able to travel at the speed of light. You guys sound like those skeptics in the 1500's who claimed a human in England would never be able to hear the voice of another human in NYC instantaneously.

You guys don't know what technologies will be discovered, you can't even fathom what our descendants will come up with, so just shut up.

Instantaneously as in no latency whatsoever? What method of communication is this?

And are you sure you didn't take the 27 times faster than light from DragonBall Z for SSJ3....

[board123]

-
Wow you guys are behind times and backwards. In 1999 some scientists accelerated particles 27 times faster than the speed of light, where have you guys been?

Also we humans (if we don't kill ourselves and survive 10,000 more years) WILL be able to travel at the speed of light. You guys sound like those skeptics in the 1500's who claimed a human in England would never be able to hear the voice of another human in NYC instantaneously.

You guys don't know what technologies will be discovered, you can't even fathom what our descendants will come up with, so just shut up.
I demand a source for this.

[kingsley]

You guys ever try to take a clock on the subway or train and notice the difference in time? Synchronize two clocks, have one person at A, and another person rapidly moving from A. The clock at A would be faster than the clock at B, so when the person returns from B to A, the times are desynced.

omg I'm laughing so hard at this response.

Thanks for clearing everything up Setz. No wonder why everytime I take the TTC my friends always say I'm late. I should tell them to take into account the time dilation effect.

[kingsley]

This thread was really funny, thanks everybody for participating!

[deep]

I demand a source for this.
You're joking, right? I don't think the Enquirer keeps articles online that long.

[LKane1]

Some people would argue that time for people not in your frame of reference (in your example, people of earth), would stop as you approach c.

Thought I should clarify. Let's say you travel at 0.99999c, time would be inversely proportional, so time would be 0.00001 that of which is normal. You can't reach c, so time cannot stop.

You guys ever try to take a clock on the subway or train and notice the difference in time? Synchronize two clocks, have one person at A, and another person rapidly moving from A. The clock at A would be faster than the clock at B, so when the person returns from B to A, the times are desynced.

omg I'm laughing so hard at this response.

Thanks for clearing everything up Setz. No wonder why everytime I take the TTC my friends always say I'm late. I should tell them to take into account the time dilation effect.


Lol for real that's funny. The even traveling at the speed of the Shanghai Maglev train of about 139.17 m/s (501 km/hr) produces a time dilation factor of about 1.0000000000001 (12 zeroes). Which means that you have to be on the train that's going nonstop for about 320 thousand years to notice a time difference of about 1 second.

So while your subway analogy is technically true, it's extremely hilarious unless you have a clock that measures to the accuracy of a picosecond.

And traveling at 0.99999c is a time dilation of about 223.6 times. Which means when an astronaut traveling at 0.99999c leaves for 1 day and return to earth to see his twin brother, the twin would have aged 223.6 days. (I don't know where you got your inverse proportion thing from. Did you read it from a magazine or something)

[alexkidd]

So basically this proves that time travel could be possible, but only going to the future not the past.

[UncleSteve]

I'm still waiting for someone to post that even if we could travel at the speed of light, the TTC union would never go for it, since they would claim that it puts drivers' safety at risk. Then, someone else would point out that Hong Kong's subway system is already capable of travelling at the speed of light.

[Setz]

So basically this proves that time travel could be possible, but only going to the future not the past.

This thread is confusing. :confused:

I don't think it's necessarily you going into the future, rather everyone else is. You age 1 day at 0.999999999c while everyone outside your frame of reference ages 200 days.

[Electricute]

it has been said that during the big bang mass traveled a lot faster than the speed of light. This point was brought up when I tried to say that the universe was in fact not infinite. I thought nothing could travel faster than c and therefore 15billion years x c = radius of universe.

[deep]

it has been said that during the big bang mass traveled a lot faster than the speed of light.
I think that theory refers to space itself expanding faster than the speed of light, so that within that frame of reference, anything with mass was still not, in fact, travelling faster than the speed of light.

I believe my head explodes (at the speed of light) when I try to really understand this.

[dark169]

This explains nothing. This thread is not about exceeding the speed of light; it's about traveling at the speed of light.

Anything can travel at the speed of light. Radio waves travel at the speed of light. The space-time warping effect of gravity travels at the speed of light.

The speed light is not only the speed for light, it's the speed of all electromagnetic radiation. Also, the limit is not set by electromagnetic radiation. It's the other way around -- 2.9979 x 10^8 m/s is simply the fastest speed anything can travel at in a vacuum, and it just so happens that electromagnetic radiation reaches that limit. If you look up the derivation for the speed of light, you will see that it has nothing to do with light.

PS: Here's a link of how c was derived.

http://cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/270/Deriving-the-Speed-of-Light

You see that c came from two fundamental constants in classical physics - permeability constant and permittivity constant.


fail, anything with ZERO mass can travel at the speed of light. for something with mass to travel at the speed of light it would require an infinite amount of energy to accelerate it to c. All we can hope for is to get close or to change the rules some how to either make the distance shorter (warp/worm holes) or the rules we know are wrong.

To the 27time faster then light, perhaps you should read the whole article and not just the digg head line. No laws of physics where broken and c is still the speed limit.

[dark169]

So basically this proves that time travel could be possible, but only going to the future not the past.

aren't we going to the future all the time? :lol:

Theres a good argument against the possibility of time travel, basically if time travel is posible shouldn't we have already been visited by tourists?

[Zapzoid]

aren't we going to the future all the time? :lol:

Theres a good argument against the possibility of time travel, basically if time travel is posible shouldn't we have already been visited by tourists?

I'm pretty sure if time travel were possible, people could only go back in time until when the time travel device or machine was actually invented or fully operational, just a theory i heard

[Eyies]

I'm pretty sure if time travel were possible, people could only go back in time until when the time travel device or machine was actually invented or fully operational, just a theory i heard

Not making fun but I just found it funny to have the bolded mentioned all in the same sentence. :lol:

[Zapzoid]

lol yeah sort of contridicted myself there my bad, you know what i mean haha

[board123]

fail, anything with ZERO mass can travel at the speed of light. for something with mass to travel at the speed of light it would require an infinite amount of energy to accelerate it to c.
How's that fail?

Yeah, anything can travel at the speed of light if you provide an infinite amount of energy. I never said whether or not it's practically possible. Infinity is merely a mathematical concept.

When you integrate under a curve from -infinity to +infinity to find the area, do you raise your hand and say, "Professor, you FAIL"?

[Kommander_KornFlakes]

I demand a source for this.

God you guys are so skeptic and obstinated, like donkeys:


"Carezani, under the current position of Autodynamics which accepts E = mc^2 to be true, has come up with an experiment to produce faster-than-light photons. Basically, the idea would be to smash to photons together into a "super" photon and to have it decay into a photon that travels faster than light.

Pico-gravitons (the theoretical particle that Carezani postulated that causes gravity and mass increase), has the property of going faster than the speed of light. According to Carezani, it has an extremely small mass and travels around 27 times the speed of light. These are preliminary calculations but they most certainly travel at hyper-light-speed if they indeed exist.

Some scientists in the 20th century have claim and still do that they can produce phenomena that is "faster-than-light". It has yet to be confirmed by mainstream physics."

Link here:

http://www.autodynamics.org/main/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=64&MMN_position=72:70

[Gloaming]

God you guys are so skeptic and obstinated, like donkeys:


"Carezani, under the current position of Autodynamics which accepts E = mc^2 to be true, has come up with an experiment to produce faster-than-light photons. Basically, the idea would be to smash to photons together into a "super" photon and to have it decay into a photon that travels faster than light.

Pico-gravitons (the theoretical particle that Carezani postulated that causes gravity and mass increase), has the property of going faster than the speed of light. According to Carezani, it has an extremely small mass and travels around 27 times the speed of light. These are preliminary calculations but they most certainly travel at hyper-light-speed if they indeed exist.

Some scientists in the 20th century have claim and still do that they can produce phenomena that is "faster-than-light". It has yet to be confirmed by mainstream physics."

Link here:

http://www.autodynamics.org/main/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=64&MMN_position=72:70


OMG, a persuasive argument by KKF back by a verifiable source even with a weblink.
Respect

[Shaner]

I'm still waiting for someone to post that even if we could travel at the speed of light, the TTC union would never go for it, since they would claim that it puts drivers' safety at risk. Then, someone else would point out that Hong Kong's subway system is already capable of travelling at the speed of light.

I'm still waiting for Kommander Krapflakes to chime in and say that light was invented by a guy from mainland China.

[board123]

God you guys are so skeptic and obstinated, like donkeys:


"Carezani, under the current position of Autodynamics which accepts E = mc^2 to be true, has come up with an experiment to produce faster-than-light photons. Basically, the idea would be to smash to photons together into a "super" photon and to have it decay into a photon that travels faster than light.

Pico-gravitons (the theoretical particle that Carezani postulated that causes gravity and mass increase), has the property of going faster than the speed of light. According to Carezani, it has an extremely small mass and travels around 27 times the speed of light. These are preliminary calculations but they most certainly travel at hyper-light-speed if they indeed exist.

Some scientists in the 20th century have claim and still do that they can produce phenomena that is "faster-than-light". It has yet to be confirmed by mainstream physics."

Link here:

http://www.autodynamics.org/main/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=64&MMN_position=72:70
LOLWUT...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodynamics

So Carezani's own website is a credible source to prove that Carezani's theory is right?

[corrupt123]

fail, anything with ZERO mass can travel at the speed of light. for something with mass to travel at the speed of light it would require an infinite amount of energy to accelerate it to c. All we can hope for is to get close or to change the rules some how to either make the distance shorter (warp/worm holes) or the rules we know are wrong.

To the 27time faster then light, perhaps you should read the whole article and not just the digg head line. No laws of physics where broken and c is still the speed limit.

Interesting point here. Although in theory this is totally possible, since we're not actually travelling faster than light, just slower and a much shorter distance, this raises a whole other bunch of questions.

For example, if we were able to bend space or use a wormhole, then we could move to locations before light. As a result, you could literally look back in time. In some respects, this would be timetravel. The difference though would be that you cannot interact with the past, just view it.