Experts do the 'impossible' by breaking speed of light

RCP

SCIENTISTS claim to have broken the ultimate speed record - by making photons travel faster than light.

Exceeding the speed of light, 186,000 miles per second, is supposed to be impossible.

According to Einstein's special theory of relativity, it would take an infinite amount of energy to accelerate an object through the light barrier.

But two German physicists now claim to have forced light to overcome its own speed limit using a phenomenon known as quantum tunnelling.

In an experiment, microwave photons, energetic packets of light, appeared to travel "instantaneously" between two prisms forming the halves of a cube placed a metre apart.

When the prisms were placed together, photons fired at one edge passed straight through them, as expected.

After they were moved apart, most of the photons reflected off the first prism they encountered and were picked up by a detector. But a few photons appeared to "tunnel" through the gap separating them as if the prisms were still held together.

Although these photons had travelled further, they arrived at their detector at exactly the same time as the reflected photons. In effect, they had travelled faster than light.

Dr Gunter Nimtz, one of the physicists from the University of Koblenz, told New Scientist: "This is the only violation of special relativity that I know of."

Source
scotsman.com

Channel Hopper

Is it really possible to detect changes in light speed at a distance of 1 metre ?

And what type of detector would be able to distinguish something that is faster than light and therefore invisible ?

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness"

Analoguesat

You need a good stop watch and very fast reflexes

Analoguesat's message to the world Analogue forever!

T_G

WEll, I would think that they thought of that before publishing this, as otherwise they would risk a serious dent to their reputation.
if this is true, maybe this is the start of a new age? If there is a speed faster than the speed of light, maybe time travel is possible after all?

T_G I only believe stuff that comes straight from Mr. Horses mouth!

Channel Hopper

Time travel has always been possible.

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness"

PaulR

True.

We all move forwards 24 hours every day.

PaulR As I get older I find myself thinking about the hereafter - I go into a room and then wonder what I'm here after.