a question for skeptics

iamhunted

I ask this purely to gauge the scientific minds of skeptics - considering science (ive been told) is very important to such people.

Its a simple question - can anything travel faster than light?

Skeptic_Desu

iamhunted wrote: »

I ask this purely to gauge the scientific minds of skeptics - considering science (ive been told) is very important to such people.

Its a simple question - can anything travel faster than light?

No known or hypothetical particle with mass can travel faster than c
(Where c is the speed of light in a vacuum)
However, knowing scientific facts and applying scientific method are entirely different things.

pH

It's not that simple a question, Tachyons have been hypothesised but no experimental evidence for or against exists. However it has been shown that even if they do exist they cannot carry information.

Then again it depends on what's meant by "exist"

According to the contemporary and widely accepted understanding of the concept of a particle, tachyon particles are too unstable to be treated as existing.

iamhunted

I seen this yesterday and dont know what to make of it (Its from last january):

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/HealthandScience/LANL_scientist_makes_radio_waves_travel_faster_than_light

Skeptic_Desu

iamhunted wrote: »

I seen this yesterday and dont know what to make of it (Its from last january):

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/HealthandScience/LANL_scientist_makes_radio_waves_travel_faster_than_light

And what has this to do with skepticism exactly?
someone on the physics forum would be able to better explain it.

iamhunted

my apologies - i thought being scientifically minded was part of being skeptical - well, thats the gist i got from yourself in your 101 thread.

I was trying to gauge just how able the average skeptical mind was to considering science changing its views every now and then. Obviously not a good idea.

Mods feel free to move this.

Skeptic_Desu

iamhunted wrote: »

i thought being scientifically minded was part of being skeptical - well, thats the gist i got from yourself in your 101 thread.

You didn't seem to get what I was saying at all.
There is a difference between knowing the scientific method and knowing scientific trivia.
We are all very aware of the fact that science can change.
However to change science you are going to need empirical evidence good experimentation and rigorous critical review. Something this research is going to need more of before anything definite can be said.

oeb

A scientific mind .... A physicist does not make.

Voodu Child

iamhunted wrote: »

I seen this yesterday and dont know what to make of it (Its from last january):

LOL :rolleyes:

That is a pattern that appears to move faster than light in that particular medium. It has nothing to do with breaking the laws of physics, its just a pattern.

An analogy is that you could set up a mexican wave across the length of the country, and could theoretically make the crest of the wave appear to travel faster than light, but that doesnt mean you've broken the laws of physics.

Cookie_Monster

There are lots of things that can travel faster than light including cars etc, light infact moves "quite" slowly through certain media.

However the speed of light in a vacuum, c, is fixed and aside from theorethical particles nothing can be faster than it.

Quote from here

Extreme slowing
Although the speed of an electromagnetic wave through matter is can be up to 50% less than the speed through a vacuum, scientists were able to greatly reduce the speed through matter in special situations. This was first done in 1999.

Danish physicists performed an experiment where they slowed light down to only 38 miles per hour or about 57 kilometers per hour. They did this by sending a beam through a material made of sodium atoms cooled to near absolute zero (-273°C or -460°F). They achieved this low temperature by using lasers to slow down the atoms, through a special method used in quantum mechanics called the Bose-Einstein condensate. (Explanation of this goes away beyond the scope of this course).

toiletduck

voodoo_child wrote: »

LOL :rolleyes:

That is a pattern that appears to move faster than light in that particular medium. It has nothing to do with breaking the laws of physics, its just a pattern.

Awh you had to ruin all the fun, I was looking forward to a "faster than c travel == psychics and water dousing true" debacle :pac: