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Date: 18 Aug 2007 16:53:41
From: Rich
Subject: This is the most threadbare "faster than light" story I've seen
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>From the Telegraph
'We have broken speed of light'
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.
Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921
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.
advertisement
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."
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Date: 19 Aug 2007 17:45:31
From: ~D~
Subject: Re: This is the most threadbare "faster than light" story I've seen
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Rich wrote:
>>From the Telegraph
> 'We have broken speed of light'
> By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent
> For instance, an astronaut moving faster than it would theoretically
> arrive at a destination before leaving.
That reminds me of the limerick:
There once was a lady named Bright
Who traveled much faster than light
She started one day
In the relative way
And returned on the previous night.
Debbie
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Date: 19 Aug 2007 22:27:28
From: Sam Wormley
Subject: Re: This is the most threadbare "faster than light" story I've seen
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Rich wrote:
>>From the Telegraph
> 'We have broken speed of light'
>
> 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.
>
> Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921
>
> 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.
> advertisement
>
> 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."
>
Here's a paper--http://arxiv.org/pdf/0708.0681
"No information is superluminally conveyed. QFT (c=c, G=0, h=h) and SR
(c=c, G=0, h=0) agree where they overlap and do not overlap where they
disagree".
From Uncle Al in sci.physics
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