BP Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 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. advertisement Telegraph - Menswear/Shoes 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." link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tictac Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Are you implying that they might figure out how to travel back in time next. Cause i miss my spagetti i just ate, it would be nice to see it again. Not in the toilet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gainzo Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesley Walker Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 how did they "clock" it ? a particle moving 3 feet at the speed of light ? I'd need to know more about the timing mechanism before taking this seriously Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BP Posted August 17, 2007 Author Share Posted August 17, 2007 how did they "clock" it ? a particle moving 3 feet at the speed of light ? I'd need to know more about the timing mechanism before taking this seriously You just busted my bubble Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesley Walker Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 You just busted my bubble sorry Bill, I didn't mean to, its a great find. I wonder if the particle was so small, they got around the energy requirements problem. I guess this clears the way for warp factor 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smizzy Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Are you implying that they might figure out how to travel back in time next. Cause i miss my spagetti i just ate, it would be nice to see it again. Not in the toilet. Not without the Flux capacitor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jet Moses Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Quantum tunneling, yeah baby, yeah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serphnx Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Aha, are we going to start conqueting space soon? This makes me want to watch those old Star Trek shows I saw as a kid. I think Spike shows reruns of the Next Generation randomly throughout the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Division Marduk Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Aha, are we going to start conqueting space soon? This makes me want to watch those old Star Trek shows I saw as a kid. I think Spike shows reruns of the Next Generation randomly throughout the day. The Next Generation bunch "conquer" space? All they ever seemed to do was empathise and try to be friends with all the aliens instead of Kirk's "just beat the crap out of them" style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny green balls Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 i remember an experiment when i was in college where some theoretical physicists had successful completed a similar experiment. from what i recall, they were able to get a particle to jump instanteneously between two charged plates. although the distance was much smaller (the plates were microns apart), at no time did the particle pierce a thin barrier between the plates, it simply jumped from one to the other. very well may have been the first incidence of teleportation. cool stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BP Posted August 17, 2007 Author Share Posted August 17, 2007 i remember an experiment when i was in college where some theoretical physicists had successful completed a similar experiment. from what i recall, they were able to get a particle to jump instanteneously between two charged plates. although the distance was much smaller (the plates were microns apart), at no time did the particle pierce a thin barrier between the plates, it simply jumped from one to the other. very well may have been the first incidence of teleportation. cool stuff. Did you do any experiments with human gas, raisins etc in college? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drago Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Not without the Flux capacitor fortunatly, i have a flux capictor. I'm still looking for an 82 delorian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMaynard Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Every time scientists think they have a pretty good handle on the universe, they get kicked in the a$$. We are not even in cosmic pre-school. I love the guys who always scoff at the thought of UFOs and aliens as completely impossible, because, as everybody knows, the sheer distances of the nearest stars is so great and nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nj meadowlands Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Cool ****! I hope it's true! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMaynard Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 how did they "clock" it ? a particle moving 3 feet at the speed of light ? I'd need to know more about the timing mechanism before taking this seriously the same stopwatch that Randy Moss used when he supposedly ran a 4.29 forty for the patriots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nj meadowlands Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 the same stopwatch that Randy Moss used when he supposedly ran a 4.29 forty for the patriots. NICE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny green balls Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Did you do any experiments with human gas, raisins etc in college? booze and drugs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny green balls Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Did you do any experiments with human gas, raisins etc in college? although this morning i got horrible gas in anticipation of the sausage, egg and hot sauce hoagie i had just ordered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryK Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 i remember an experiment when i was in college where some theoretical physicists had successful completed a similar experiment. from what i recall, they were able to get a particle to jump instanteneously between two charged plates. although the distance was much smaller (the plates were microns apart), at no time did the particle pierce a thin barrier between the plates, it simply jumped from one to the other. very well may have been the first incidence of teleportation. cool stuff. I thought of this too. I wonder if it's an offshoot of that "quantum teleportation" idea. If so, it's clever but totally un-implementable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mavrik Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I thought of this too. I wonder if it's an offshoot of that "quantum teleportation" idea. If so, it's clever but totally un-implementable At the moment, yes. But who knows whether scientists are able to make use of it 100 years down the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Division Marduk Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 fortunatly, i have a flux capictor. I'm still looking for an 82 delorian. I hear some guy wants to start building Deloreans again. Not in Belfast this time, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crackbackblock Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 Not without the Flux capacitor Don't you mean the FLUSH Capacitor?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsTaborJet Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 IT'S ECURB!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crackbackblock Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 although this morning i got horrible gas in anticipation of the sausage, egg and hot sauce hoagie i had just ordered. Two things. First, you actually got the gas BEFORE you ate the the sausage, egg and hot sauce hoagie. Therefore your body went into the future(gastrointestinal chaos) before supplying the stimulus (sausage, egg and hot sauce hoagie). Interesting. Secondly, did that hoagie have peppers on it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thai Jet Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 How come know one's mentioned worm holes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thai Jet Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 The Next Generation bunch "conquer" space? All they ever seemed to do was empathise and try to be friends with all the aliens instead of Kirk's "just beat the crap out of them" style. That's the reason I never got into Next Generation. Kirk had it right all along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joebabyny Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 How come know one's mentioned worm holes? we were waiting for a certified geek to show up and mention it, thanks! lol, j/k thai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thai Jet Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 we were waiting for a certified geek to show up and mention it, thanks! lol, j/k thai Glad I could help Joe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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