• Question: Is Faster Than Light possible?

    Asked by 579spcn52 to Andrew, Hina, Ian, Kathryn, Leah-Nani, Xu on 12 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: Kathryn Burrows

      Kathryn Burrows answered on 12 Jun 2018:

      If you can prove you can go faster than light in a vacuum (travelling in free space with no material) then you will get a nobel prize! As that is currently considered impossible. However, light often travels a little slower than this maximum speed, say if it is travelling through glass or through the air, while light still travels really fast in this case, and it would be hard, it is possible to travel faster than light that travels through a material.

    • Photo: Andrew Margetts-Kelly

      Andrew Margetts-Kelly answered on 12 Jun 2018:

      — Simple Answer —
      The simple answer is no, the speed of light seems to be a universal speed limit.
      The only reason light (photons) travel at the universal speed limit is because photons have no mass. Any massive object (like electrons or atoms or spaceships) can only travel slower than the speed of light.

      — Not so Simple Answer —
      It is all relative (which takes some explaining). Basically, space and time are inseparable, you cannot consider one without the other; you have to think in terms of space-time, funny stuff happens if you go fast, like time slows down and you get heavier (weird huhh?). Special Relativity and General Relativity govern this principle of space-time.
      — Fun Fact —
      Things can travel through a material faster than the material’s own the speed of light (in stuff, like water and glass light travels slower). When this happens Vavilov–Cherenkov radiation is emitted; this causes an eery blue glow around nuclear reactors. Take a look at the links below:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherenkov_radiation

    • Photo: Leah-Nani Alconcel

      Leah-Nani Alconcel answered on 12 Jun 2018:

      Not as far as we know right now.

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