Is the speed of light unbeatable??

Answer 1

Absolutely. Read on...

The EPR Paradox.

The experiment is so named because it was a thought experiment devised by Einstein, Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen. The experiment focuses on the phenomenon of quantum theory known as 'non-locality', which concerns communication between particles. A pair of protons, for example, associated with one another in a configuration called the singlet state will always have a total angular momentum of zero, as they each have equal and opposite amounts of spin. The protons will not collapse their probability wave and 'decide' which spin to adopt, until they have been observed. If you measure the spin of one proton, according to quantum theory, the other proton instantly 'knows' and adopts the opposite spin.

It is possible, and has been carried out in laboratory tests over a short distance, to split the particles apart and send them in opposite directions and then measure one of them for spin. The instant it is measured, and the spin determined, the other particle adopts the opposite spin. The time interval is zero, the event takes place instantaneously, even though the particles are separated, and theoretically would still do so even if they were separated by a distance measured in light years.

The implication is that particles can communicate at faster than light speed. This experiment upset Einstein greatly as it is impossible for this to happen according to his theory of relativity, but happen it did.

Something, although we don't understand what, can and does exceed the speed of light! Amazing huh?

Answer 2

This gets argued all the time. According to the best theories and scientific evidence we have, the answer is yes. We'll never go faster than light. Or even approach that speed.

Somebody mentioned that when the speed of light is exceeded, mass becomes an imaginary quantity. Hehehe. Up until about the 16'th or 17'th century imaginary numbers were officially sanctioned by the Holy Church of Rome as being 'the work of the devil'. but we've certainly found them useful for lots of things today, I'm not sure what 'imaginary mass' might mean (in a physical sense) but it might be some way to travel faster than light.

OTOH there is a theoretical particle (called a 'tachyon') that nobody has observed (as yet) which, according to one set of solutions for SR, can never go **slower** than the speed of light.

I guess that the answer is; Who knows? They said we could never fly, break the sound barrier, go to the moon, etc. etc. and we did all those things.


Doug

Answer 3

Breaking the Light Speed Limit


Once thought to be unbreakable, the speed of light as set by the laws of physics has been exceeded in two recent experiments, according to a New York Times news report. The speed of light in a vacuum, or empty space, is 186,000 miles per second. Exceeding this speed jeopardizes the entire theory of relativity, which rests on the idea that light speed is the universal limit to how fast anything can travel.
Scientists have found ways to break that speed limit. In one experiment performed by researchers at the NEC Research Institute in Princeton, N.J., a pulse of light was sent through a transparent chamber filled with specially prepared cesium gas and was pushed to travel at speeds of 300 times the normal speed of light. The light travels so fast that the main part of the light pulse exits the chamber even before it enters. Theoretically, this means that you could see a moment in time before it actually takes place.

Researchers at the NEC declined to comment on the experiment while it is under review by Nature, a weekly peer-reviewed science journal. However, Kazuko Anderson, a spokesperson with the NEC in New York, confirmed the accuracy of the New York Times report.

In a second superluminal study, published in the May 22 issue of Physical Review Letters, scientists at the Italian National Research Council of Florence shone light beams at a curved mirror. The mirror then shot the beams back at the instrument that measured the rays' speeds. The beam coming from the center of the mirror was measured at 5 percent to 7 percent faster than light speed. The authors said this effect only works over relatively short distances, such as the one meter used by the Italian researchers.

Exceeding the speed of light may have future implications for space travel and computer chips, but for now scientists are uncertain about the practical use of this discovery. Neither experiment was able to use a light beam to carry any information or prove that an object of any weight would be able to travel beyond light speed.

Answer 4

yes ,Speed Of Light Is Unbeatable

Answer 5

Speed of light is unbeatable.

As per modern Physics, when some object travels in speed of light, its weight will become gradually increase towards Infinite. Any man made objects are not suitable for this.

Answer 6

Of course it's beatable, saying it's unbeatable is like saying the world is flat or that the speed of sound could never be broken. Eisenstein was wrong or just slightly incorrect mass can travel faster than the speed of light. there are theories out there that strongly suggest it. One is that if you should make a force field of some sort around your vessel, then force space to go around your force field thus pushing your craft possible past the speed of light without actually moving! Space would be pushing you in a bubble, this is a way of getting around Einsteins theory of relativity.
If you are truly interested in learning about this then I recommend that you watch this. it's Dr. DAvid Sereda talking about ufos but also his theory of fast than light speed travel using a 'galaxy clock'. If you haven' the patience to watch the entire thing then just watch part2 when disscussing the cable and the galaxy clock.
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-5070476612863849446&q=ufo

Answer 7

No. as per the theory of relativity, nothing can travel faster than light. According to Einstein's theory of special relativity, published in 1905, nothing can exceed the speed of light. That speed, explained Einstein, is a fundamental constant of nature: It appears the same to all observers anywhere in space.

The same theory says that objects gain mass as they speed up, and that speeding up requires energy. The more mass, the more energy is required. By the time an object reached the speed of light, Einstein calculated, its mass would be infinite, and so would the amount of energy required to increase its speed. To go beyond the infinite is impossible.


However, scientists are trying on experiments can mock travel beyond the speed of light, which is yet to be proven.

Answer 8

Well, Speed of light is definitely beatable.
It is a known fact that phase (not group) velocity of a group of particles (e.g., photons) can exceed the speed of light. What this means is that if there is a beam of light which is travelling, it is definitely possible under some circumstances that a phase change intoduced at the source can be trasmitted to the other end even before the photons which consist of the beam of light have actually reached the destination.

Answer 9

Yes!!. The speed of light is unbeatable.

Answer 10

Well this is what I was taught " Speed of the light is absolute and approximately (3 × 10 to th power 8) metres per second" nothing can move faster than light.

Scientists have recently succeeded in doing all sorts of fancy things with light, including slowing it down and even stopping it all together

Theoretically,it is possible for the "group velocity" of light to exceed speed of light (. One recent experiment made the group velocity of laser beams travel for extremely short distances through caesium atoms at 300 times "speed of light"