Scientists: 'We have broken speed of light'

[UM-Bot]

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.

View: Full Article | Source: Telegraph

[Marvy]

This is fantastic, we are getting closer to extra-terrestrial technology...

[Ravinar]

now if we can make a space ship with this capability we would be able to begin exploring are universe. but thats probably still 10-20 years away at least

[Andromedae]

yey!!!!!!!!!

[Feanor]

now if we can make a space ship with this capability we would be able to begin exploring are universe. but thats probably still 10-20 years away at least

No problem. If I live more 50 years, I will be able to see this!

Now, serious! This is very cool. Indeed if they manage to control this entirely and create a space ship capable of travel this fast, they can visit that new planet just discovered with MAY have life or sustain life.

Imagine human visiting other planets with life or colonizing new planets. Perhaps, this way, we can guarantee our longevity cause it is sure that Earth will not last forever.

[Star_girl]

Cool! Hopefull in 20 years the world is still around so I can see this technology!

Just love it when the impossible is proven possible...

[Shuriken]

IF this is true, it still does not mean we can adapt this method anywhere outside the lab. Further more, making a laser beam go faster then light and making a solid object do the same thing are two completely different things. Matter brakes down and does all kinds of nasty things when accelerated near the light speed. 10-20 years? are u shi++ing me ?

[Lilly]

One little hitch I noticed here, this experiment had to do with sub-atomic particles. It's long been known that things on a sub-atomic level don't always appear to 'jive' with some of what Einstein presented...hence the hunt for a 'theory of everything'. It seems pretty evident that we don't have this area of physics anywhere near being well understood. How or if any of this has any application for beyond light speed space travel is simply not known at this time.

[Reepa]

This could be the first baby step into a future where faster than light speed can be obtained.

However its more likely to be achieved in the next 200 - 1000 years if we can stay alive that long

[MARK7ENTY3]

excellent but i, doubt i,ll get to live to see this technology developed to use as a means of propulsion

if they can produce such technology outside of a controlled enviroment it wont be for deccades

[Pandora7321]

That is absolutely amazing and very exciting! However, I do agree that we're not gonna be seeing anything with this for a LONG time.

[:PsYKoTiC:BeHAvIoR:]

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.

Sounds to me as if they were able to stop time as well?

[Jaded1]

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."

View: Full Article | Source: Telegraph

Hmm... I'm wondering how they knew that the pair travelled "instantaneously"? In a vacuum the pair (if travelling at the speed of light) would be expected to travel the 3ft in 3/(186282.397*5280) seconds (roughly 3.05 nanoseconds). If it wasn't in a vacuum then it'd take longer based on the refractive index of the medium that the pair travelled through. It'd be impossible (in my mind anyway) to measure if some particle had travelled "instantaneously".

Also, theoretically anyway, if the pair had indeed travelled faster than the speed of light they would have travelled back in time and would have been recorded by the detector before the experiment was even started... Quantum physics is such a minefield of conundrums, paradoxes and enigmas...

As for the comment that we'd have the technology to create a spaceship to travel faster than light speed in the next 10-20 years, it's absolutely clear that the person has absolutely no scientific knowledge at all. The gulf between doing things on the sub-atomic level and recreating it on a macro level is absolutely immense!

[sunburst]

i must say, this is a blessing to see this happen. however, i don't know how long it'll take to master this form and put it into our spaceships. and we're already having trouble with our spaceships now, how will they hold up at the speed of light?! don't get me wrong, i am very happy this happened, and all though i wish it wasn't, we might not see this 4 a very long time,.

[lordL]

According to this blog , the experiment referred to in the article might not be as ground breaking as it is made up to be.

Since I haven't seen the research paper myself, so I can't say for sure if the criticism is deserved.

[nautilis]

Who wants to bet it will be used for missiles & tools of destruction first....

[jesspy]

watch the movie "event horizon" crazy consequences with travel and craziness

so would this mean we would be like Jeanie...blink and we are there?

[scauma]

Hmm... I'm wondering how they knew that the pair travelled "instantaneously"? In a vacuum the pair (if travelling at the speed of light) would be expected to travel the 3ft in 3/(186282.397*5280) seconds (roughly 3.05 nanoseconds). If it wasn't in a vacuum then it'd take longer based on the refractive index of the medium that the pair travelled through. It'd be impossible (in my mind anyway) to measure if some particle had travelled "instantaneously".

Also, theoretically anyway, if the pair had indeed travelled faster than the speed of light they would have travelled back in time and would have been recorded by the detector before the experiment was even started... Quantum physics is such a minefield of conundrums, paradoxes and enigmas...

As for the comment that we'd have the technology to create a spaceship to travel faster than light speed in the next 10-20 years, it's absolutely clear that the person has absolutely no scientific knowledge at all. The gulf between doing things on the sub-atomic level and recreating it on a macro level is absolutely immense!

we are about to enter an age where we learn that most of what we thought we knew was wrong, i for one plan on enjoying it

[Raptor]

In the past few years there have been a dozen claims that it has been broken, that doesn't make it true. I'd bet that by the end of this month the claim is shot down, and it's revealed as a being a complete distortion of the truth, or a misinterpretation of the behaviour of photons.

People are too quick to believe things, skepticism is everything.

If it does turn out to be true, it's an extraordinary discovery. But I'm not gonna hold my breath...

Edited August 17, 2007 by Raptor X7

[Ghost Ship]

A spaceship would have to act like a particle within the confines of this experiment. How that would work in space i dont know. How can an engine be built to utilize quantum tunnelling.

I agree that it is a whole new ball game, an whole new sport even, to create a spacecraft with the ability to go the speed of light and beyond.

Edited August 17, 2007 by Blue_Sphere

[crtDzyn]

Hmm... I'm wondering how they knew that the pair travelled "instantaneously"? In a vacuum the pair (if travelling at the speed of light) would be expected to travel the 3ft in 3/(186282.397*5280) seconds (roughly 3.05 nanoseconds). If it wasn't in a vacuum then it'd take longer based on the refractive index of the medium that the pair travelled through. It'd be impossible (in my mind anyway) to measure if some particle had travelled "instantaneously".

Also, theoretically anyway, if the pair had indeed travelled faster than the speed of light they would have travelled back in time and would have been recorded by the detector before the experiment was even started... Quantum physics is such a minefield of conundrums, paradoxes and enigmas...

As for the comment that we'd have the technology to create a spaceship to travel faster than light speed in the next 10-20 years, it's absolutely clear that the person has absolutely no scientific knowledge at all. The gulf between doing things on the sub-atomic level and recreating it on a macro level is absolutely immense!

I concur doctor.

According to this blog , the experiment referred to in the article might not be as ground breaking as it is made up to be.

Since I haven't seen the research paper myself, so I can't say for sure if the criticism is deserved.

Interesting...

we are about to enter an age where we learn that most of what we thought we knew was wrong, i for one plan on enjoying it

Me too!

Edited August 17, 2007 by crtbud420

[Saitung]

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."

View: Full Article | Source: Telegraph

Again, as Dr. Michio Kaku, Professor in theoretical physics at City College of New York states so often, we have to open our minds to the possibility of beings millions or even billions of years more advanced than we are. This would mean they were traveling and exploring the universe before the earth was even formed. Their capabilities would seem the stuff of gods in the purest sense of the word. They would have long discovered what these pair of German physicists, are on the verge of discovering.

Well, if these beings are from the Dark Energy or Dark Matter section of the universe then distance is not a constant, for that matter there may be no such thing as distance as we physical beings know it.

All of this is not unusual when you understand that the known universe is made up of 4% real matter, 23% Dark Matter, and 73% Dark Energy. Personally I don't like the term "dark", I prefer "invisible." When you understand this, one can see that the universe was really created for habitation by the spiritual or non physical, not the biological. Scientists announced recently new evidence supporting the theory that your infant universe expanded from subatomic to astronomical size in a fraction of a second after its birth. The finding is based on new results from NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite, launched in 2001 to measure the temperature of radiant heat left over from the Big Bang, which is the theoretical beginning to the universe. This universe is a huge mechanism, for life and its continuance. Mankind is looking for all the wrong signs for life and in all the wrong places for life. Physical, Biological life is such a small segment in the whole spectrum of life. In essence, the traditional scientist wouldn't know alien life if it hit us in the face. Our earth is rare, so rare it could truly be considered a holy planet along with its collection of life. The bible, which was given to man, explains this. Earth may be one of very few holy experiments if you will, one of say three planets in the entire universe that contains highly intelligent life on a biologically physical plane." So in shirt this discovery is ground breaking and will hopefully open the door to more serious study the UFO phenomena here on earth.

[Feanor]

IF this is true, it still does not mean we can adapt this method anywhere outside the lab. Further more, making a laser beam go faster then light and making a solid object do the same thing are two completely different things. Matter brakes down and does all kinds of nasty things when accelerated near the light speed. 10-20 years? are u shi++ing me ?

Thats why there is an "IF" onn those sentences speculating what could happen and be discovered out there. But, this IF can imply many things...

[Ashigaru]

I'd care if it hadn't already been done.

[tuba342]

In all my time travel studies, I have believed the most that if you travel at a high enough speed you can move to the future. So breaking the speed of light would be great.