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The future is impossible

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  • D Daniel Pfeffer

    Light (but not necessarily other particles) is affected by a move between media. You get effects such as refraction, total reflection, etc. If you want to see how the outer world looks when looking out from a medium where n > 1 to a medium where n == 1, dive into a pool and open your eyes. Experiment always trumps theory. :)

    If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

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    W Balboos GHB
    wrote on last edited by
    #40

    Except I'm interested not in the classical view but the relativistic view. What is 'The c' from my point of view of light in the lower-index medium? From the reverse situation, 'The c' is slower in the higher index medium when viewed from the lower index medium. Do I see, for exemple, a Cherenkov radiation view of all outside light? Your "do the experiment" works if I were to look up at stars from earth. OK: let's pretend for a moment that it is a Cherenkov radiation view: the effect could be trivial, too dim, or radiating elsewhere than toward my point of observation. The pretend, of course, can be wrong. What I see is what I've always seen - so I'd not know. I'd imagine someone has considered this by now - but I'm at work and can't go off on this particular google search right now. Seeking that quick-answer. (Should I post this in Q&A ?).

    Ravings en masse^

    "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein

    "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010

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    • D den2k88

      Daniel Pfeffer wrote:

      Experiment always trumps theory.

      So theory is fake news! :D

      CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++*      Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game. I'm a puny punmaker.

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      Daniel Pfeffer
      wrote on last edited by
      #41

      Yes, until it is verified by experiment. :)

      If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

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      • F F ES Sitecore

        I thought it was only things with mass that cannot travel faster than the speed of light, but it is possible for things without mass to exceed the speed, even in a vacuum.

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        Daniel Pfeffer
        wrote on last edited by
        #42

        Nope. Massless objects (such as photons) are constrained to always move at the Speed of Light (when they are in vacuum). When is a different medium, such as water, they may move slower than the Speed of Light, but never faster.

        If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

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        • W W Balboos GHB

          Except I'm interested not in the classical view but the relativistic view. What is 'The c' from my point of view of light in the lower-index medium? From the reverse situation, 'The c' is slower in the higher index medium when viewed from the lower index medium. Do I see, for exemple, a Cherenkov radiation view of all outside light? Your "do the experiment" works if I were to look up at stars from earth. OK: let's pretend for a moment that it is a Cherenkov radiation view: the effect could be trivial, too dim, or radiating elsewhere than toward my point of observation. The pretend, of course, can be wrong. What I see is what I've always seen - so I'd not know. I'd imagine someone has considered this by now - but I'm at work and can't go off on this particular google search right now. Seeking that quick-answer. (Should I post this in Q&A ?).

          Ravings en masse^

          "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein

          "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010

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          Daniel Pfeffer
          wrote on last edited by
          #43

          What you see when you dive into a pool is the relativistic view; do you think that when you jump into a pool that you are suddenly transferred into a Newtonian Universe? (Note that it is impossible to treat light in any manner other than relativistic. The Theory of Special Relativity was formulated in order to resolve the non-Newtonian behaviour of electromagnetic waves).

          If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

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          • V Vark111

            Anybody ever wonder why the speed of light is represented by the constant c? It's because it's not the speed of light. Nobody other than optics researchers much care about the speed of light. What they do care about is the speed of causality (which, you'll note, starts with the letter 'c'). It just so happens that - in our universe - light (in a vacuum) travels at the speed of causality. If you can exceed the speed of causality, then guess what you've just invented? Not something as mundane as FTL travel. You've invented a Time Machine.

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            Daniel Pfeffer
            wrote on last edited by
            #44

            The speed of light is represented by the letter c because the Latin for speed is celeritate (which gives us words such as acceleration).

            If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

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            • D Daniel Pfeffer

              Nope. Massless objects (such as photons) are constrained to always move at the Speed of Light (when they are in vacuum). When is a different medium, such as water, they may move slower than the Speed of Light, but never faster.

              If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

              F Offline
              F Offline
              F ES Sitecore
              wrote on last edited by
              #45

              Tachyons?

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              • D Daniel Pfeffer

                What you see when you dive into a pool is the relativistic view; do you think that when you jump into a pool that you are suddenly transferred into a Newtonian Universe? (Note that it is impossible to treat light in any manner other than relativistic. The Theory of Special Relativity was formulated in order to resolve the non-Newtonian behaviour of electromagnetic waves).

                If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

                W Offline
                W Offline
                W Balboos GHB
                wrote on last edited by
                #46

                My view, insider or outside of the pool is still (for all practical purposed) the normalized perceptions. My interest was in how a totally relativistic entity, light, would appear from a different point of view - not as I see it with eyes. This is a theoretical view that I'm wondering about. If I "perceive" light moving slower than 'c' as it moves through a higher index medium than that from which I observe it, what would I observe if the media were switched? Could I thereby "observe" light (in the lower index medium) exceeding "my local c" ? Observation here does not refer to human perception: what would I measure from my frame of reference? I'll look it up, later.

                Ravings en masse^

                "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein

                "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010

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                • F F ES Sitecore

                  Tachyons?

                  D Offline
                  D Offline
                  Daniel Pfeffer
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #47

                  Tachyons are considered impossible in Special Relativity - they can send information into the past, and so reverse cause and effect. In a Universe where Tachyons existed, it would be possible for you to kill your grandmother before your mother was born, thereby making you disappear - poof! :)

                  There was a young woman called Bright
                  Who could travel much faster than light
                  She went out one day
                  In a Relative way
                  And returned the previous night

                  -- Anon.

                  If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

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                  • W W Balboos GHB

                    My view, insider or outside of the pool is still (for all practical purposed) the normalized perceptions. My interest was in how a totally relativistic entity, light, would appear from a different point of view - not as I see it with eyes. This is a theoretical view that I'm wondering about. If I "perceive" light moving slower than 'c' as it moves through a higher index medium than that from which I observe it, what would I observe if the media were switched? Could I thereby "observe" light (in the lower index medium) exceeding "my local c" ? Observation here does not refer to human perception: what would I measure from my frame of reference? I'll look it up, later.

                    Ravings en masse^

                    "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein

                    "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010

                    D Offline
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                    Daniel Pfeffer
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #48

                    W∴ Balboos wrote:

                    Observation here does not refer to human perception: what would I measure from my frame of reference?

                    They are one and the same; what you see is (or should be) what Physics predicts that you see. If you are asking "what would it look like to a photon that entered a medium where n > 1?", I can't answer that. It's an interesting Gedanken experiment...

                    If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

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                    • K Kaladin

                      Well, it's defined according to the speed of light in a vacuum.

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                      Mark_Wallace
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #49

                      Under what gravity?

                      I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

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                      • D Daniel Pfeffer

                        Tachyons are considered impossible in Special Relativity - they can send information into the past, and so reverse cause and effect. In a Universe where Tachyons existed, it would be possible for you to kill your grandmother before your mother was born, thereby making you disappear - poof! :)

                        There was a young woman called Bright
                        Who could travel much faster than light
                        She went out one day
                        In a Relative way
                        And returned the previous night

                        -- Anon.

                        If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

                        F Offline
                        F Offline
                        F ES Sitecore
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #50

                        Yeah, fair enough, I guess unless a hypothetical particle has been observed we must assume it is impossible. I wonder what they're doing with the LHC these days....

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                        • Y Ygnaiih

                          Lately I am seeing articles from Futurist who say that this or that is impossible. A good example would be faster than light speed travel. I'm old. I've seen everything from floor model radios to 98 inch flat screen TVs with Netflix etc. I would be afraid to say any technological advance is impossible.

                          Leadership equals wrecked ship. If you think you are leading my look behind you. You are alone. If you think I am leading you, You are lost.

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                          jeron1
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #51

                          Ygnaiih wrote:

                          articles from Futurist who say that this or that is impossible.

                          That's their opinion, and as the old adage goes 'opinions are like a**holes, everybody has one'. A positive that may come of it though, it might kickstart a thought process by the right person, that may prove or disprove that opinion.

                          "the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment "Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst "I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle

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                          • Y Ygnaiih

                            Lately I am seeing articles from Futurist who say that this or that is impossible. A good example would be faster than light speed travel. I'm old. I've seen everything from floor model radios to 98 inch flat screen TVs with Netflix etc. I would be afraid to say any technological advance is impossible.

                            Leadership equals wrecked ship. If you think you are leading my look behind you. You are alone. If you think I am leading you, You are lost.

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                            PIEBALDconsult
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #52

                            Possible and achievable are two different things. Something may be possible, yet we may not achieve it. I don't think we'll achieve time travel.

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                            • L Lost User

                              Ygnaiih wrote:

                              I would be afraid to say any technological advance is impossible.

                              The speed of light is a known physical limit of the universe. It has little to do with what we can invent, and more with the limits that exisist in the universe.

                              Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

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                              Foothill
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #53

                              Eddy Vluggen wrote:

                              The speed of light is a known physical limit of the universe.

                              That's not entirely accurate, depending on your point of view. The speed of light is a known limit to our understanding of the universe. Until someone explains why energy cannot go any faster without relying on 45 layers of other people's mathematical theories, I will still say that it is possible to go faster then light and that is our understanding of physics that is, well, incomplete. I know that with e = mc2 accelerating anything with more mass then a single elementary particle would need all of the energy of the universe but if you rethink what that equation implies, you begin to see that it might just be possible if we knew more.

                              if (Object.DividedByZero == true) { Universe.Implode(); } Meus ratio ex fortis machina. Simplicitatis de formae ac munus. -Foothill, 2016

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                              • L Lost User

                                Ygnaiih wrote:

                                I would be afraid to say any technological advance is impossible.

                                The speed of light is a known physical limit of the universe. It has little to do with what we can invent, and more with the limits that exisist in the universe.

                                Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

                                B Offline
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                                Bassam Abdul Baki
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #54

                                At what speed does gas escape a black hole?

                                Web - BM - RSS - Math - LinkedIn

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                                • Y Ygnaiih

                                  Lately I am seeing articles from Futurist who say that this or that is impossible. A good example would be faster than light speed travel. I'm old. I've seen everything from floor model radios to 98 inch flat screen TVs with Netflix etc. I would be afraid to say any technological advance is impossible.

                                  Leadership equals wrecked ship. If you think you are leading my look behind you. You are alone. If you think I am leading you, You are lost.

                                  R Offline
                                  R Offline
                                  RedDk
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #55

                                  Ygnaiih wrote:

                                  I'm old

                                  Me too! But there's always Google; the workaround to getting a life! :thumbsup:

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                                  • F Foothill

                                    Eddy Vluggen wrote:

                                    The speed of light is a known physical limit of the universe.

                                    That's not entirely accurate, depending on your point of view. The speed of light is a known limit to our understanding of the universe. Until someone explains why energy cannot go any faster without relying on 45 layers of other people's mathematical theories, I will still say that it is possible to go faster then light and that is our understanding of physics that is, well, incomplete. I know that with e = mc2 accelerating anything with more mass then a single elementary particle would need all of the energy of the universe but if you rethink what that equation implies, you begin to see that it might just be possible if we knew more.

                                    if (Object.DividedByZero == true) { Universe.Implode(); } Meus ratio ex fortis machina. Simplicitatis de formae ac munus. -Foothill, 2016

                                    L Offline
                                    L Offline
                                    Lost User
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #56

                                    Foothill wrote:

                                    That's not entirely accurate, depending on your point of view. The speed of light is a known limit to our understanding of the universe. Until someone explains why energy cannot go any faster without relying on 45 layers of other people's mathematical theories, I will still say that it is possible to go faster then light and that is our understanding of physics that is, well, incomplete.

                                    AFAIK, it does not require any additional layers. Now, do come up with a theory were light goes faster and prove it with a repeatable experiment, and we'll talk :)

                                    Foothill wrote:

                                    I know that with e = mc2 accelerating anything with more mass then a single elementary particle would need all of the energy of the universe but if you rethink what that equation implies, you begin to see that it might just be possible if we knew more.

                                    No, it wouldn't, because all matter is still slower than light.

                                    Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

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                                    • Z ZurdoDev

                                      Eddy Vluggen wrote:

                                      The speed of light is a known physical limit of the universe.

                                      Quote:

                                      "based on current technology and science knowledge I have".

                                      :-D

                                      There are two kinds of people in the world: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data. There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

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                                      Jeremy Falcon
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #57

                                      :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

                                      Jeremy Falcon

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                                      • M Mark_Wallace

                                        Under what gravity?

                                        I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

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                                        Jeremy Falcon
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #58

                                        Sounds like it's time for a "your momma" joke.

                                        Jeremy Falcon

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                                        • B Bassam Abdul Baki

                                          At what speed does gas escape a black hole?

                                          Web - BM - RSS - Math - LinkedIn

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                                          J Offline
                                          Jeremy Falcon
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #59

                                          Yeah, there's definitely a "your momma" joke to be made in this thread.

                                          Jeremy Falcon

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