Page 1 of Scientists slow the speed of light

Does this make time travel possible? :) No, but interesting none the less:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-30944584

Quote:
They sent photons - individual particles of light - through a special mask. It changed the photons' shape - and slowed them to less than light speed.

The photons remained travelling at the lower speed even when they returned to free space.
So if the speed of light can be slowed, does that make it no longer a constant?

Is a strawberry dead?


Editor
DVD REVIEWER
MYREVIEWER.COM

My Flickr Photostream

My head hurts!!! And this in the same week that someone told me about the mysteries of 'quantum entanglement'. Amazing stuff happening in science at the moment.

Quote:
Rob Shepherd says...
"does that make it no longer a constant?"
Only when acted on by an external force


============================


Writer`s Release

I think the important point is that light is the fastest thing in the universe (as far as we know) and no matter what you do you can't speed it up. That's what makes it constant.

Dimmer switch?







My Blu-ray Screenshot Site

I thought a constant was something that was unaffected by external forces.  If you can slow light, then it's no longer a constant.

J Mark Oates

---

It`s Grand To Be Daft

sprockethole.myreviewer.com

Nope, it's the upper limit of the speed of light that's the important bit in regards to Einstein's general theory of relativity. It follows that, if nothing can travel faster than light, then that marks the limit of the speed of all other interactions in the universe. A consequence of this is that time and space are not constant: space shrinks in the direction of motion, time slows down the faster you travel, gravity slows time, etc.

Too long to properly explain here of course but if you check online you'll find a constant flow of people who think they've found a fault in the theory only for someone far more knowledgeable than me to easily dismantle their arguments.

You might be able to slow it down, but you absolutely cannot speed up light!

Quote:
alfie noakes says...
"You might be able to slow it down, but you absolutely cannot speed up light!"
But you might be able to sneak round it while it's dark.

Lecture by a chap called Hawking

Quote:
The conclusion of this lecture is that rapid space-travel, or travel back in time, can't be ruled out, according to our present understanding.

Snaps

---

My new Flash Fiction blog. All my own work
500ish

---

I used to be with it, but then they changed what `it` was.
Now, what I`m with isn`t it, and what`s `it` seems weird and scary

I enjoyed that lecture, thanks.