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Light Stopped, Held And Re-emitted By A Crystal
nherc writes: "An article in Nature talks about an incredible new crystal that can actual stop and hold light to be later emitted. It's mentioned light has previously been "slowed" by super cooled gases, but this certainly blows that away. They mention this could be a major step towards quantum computing."
No, really, I know light speed changes. c is just for light in a vacuum... This is really neat stuff, and I hope this becomes a leap forward in understanding quantum mechanics.
Click here or here.
oh, gee, crystals filled with light, neat-o. let me know when you actually get your hands on some news.
feanor@mandos.org
god is just pretend.
Is this basically what the crystal Galadriel gives to Frodo does? Stores light, until it's needed in his "darkest hour?" If it is, it means that those damn elves are still decades ahead of us in technology! We must find them, take their tech, and destroy them!
Colin Winters
...who thinks Galadriel is hot...
is that they've not only stopped light, but made it go backwards, reversing time, so this 'discovery' got projected into the future, where we're reading about it now as if it were new, altho it's been done some time ago.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
At last, we can get some light into that thing. I was getting really tired of The Dark Crystal
:-)
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
...or does the picture at the start of the article make everyone else think of "Missile Command"?
TheFrood
If you say "I'll probably get modded down for this..." then I will mod you down.
I bet it's the "Quantuim" :)
"a crystal of yttrium silicate containing a few atoms of the element praseodymium"
They need a catchy marketing name... Something like DyLithium Crystals.
Can You Say Linux? I Knew That You Could.
Relax. The universe is not about to implode.
Light travels 186,000 miles per second IN A VACUUM (speed is different otherwise) and there aren't enough "Neuspeed" stickers or chrome exhaust tips in the world to make a Honda Civic faster than light.
Whew, that was a close one.
--
Spaz!
Anything that brings us closer to proving Dark Sucker Theory is okay in my book.
± 29 dB
Vietnam aside, I really don't like the chances of any army against one with significantly superior technology - and the US army is heavily trained to rely on the superiority of its tech.
Futhermore, the peaceniks would have a field day with this - I doubt the Elf War would be very popular on the home front. It would take a really strong president to overcome this...
Vote Sauron in 2004!
(This post was a paid message from the Committe to Elect Sauron, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to America's future as the stronghold of the Dark Lord.)
I'm the stranger...posting to
AMD has a quantum CPU almost ready for production. Unfortunately, their trials show that when your cooling fan fails the probability wave collapses and your cat dies.
A man without a God is like a fish without a bicycle.
Amazing New Material! Stores Light!!!
Buy our amazing new Oak Light Trees (TM) today. So attractive, so easy to use. Just follow these simple instructions:
1. Put Oak Light Trees (TM) in ground.
2. In most climates, do nothing for 5-100 years or more depending on how much light you need and when. In some climates, you may need to water the ground in the viscinity of the Oak Light Tree (TM).
3. Cut the base of the Oak Light Tree (TM) with a chain saw or axe, or simply have someone knock it over with a bulldozer, then cut into smaller pieces.
4. Allow to dry for 1 year.
5. Light the smaller units of the Oak Light Tree (TM) with a match or lighter until they begin to emit light on their own. Add larger and larger pieces until the light is satisfying.
Amazing!!! And not only do they provide light, but heat as well. Buy today. Only $20/piece.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
What has been done here is to use subatomic particles to store information about coherent light signals.
"Coherent light... you mean it can talk." - Mr. Taylor Real Genium
"as plurdled gabbleblotchits on a lurgid bee" - Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz. (One man's humorous is another mans flamebait)
When I first read a story with "slow glass" in it, I thought "That might be cool." Then I thought about how much energy was somehow stored internally if I left a sheet lying in the desert in direct sunlight for ten years. Then I thought about what would happen if all that energy were discharged at once when the crystal structure (or whatever) was damaged by, say, the neighborhood brat throwing a brick through it. And decided that I wouldn't want any of that stuff in my house!
c is the constant of the (maximum?) speed of light in a vacuum, not the actual speed of light.
don't worry, your universe isn't going to explode.
not yet.
I hope to die peacefully in my sleep like grandpa, not screaming like his passengers.
Once upon a time Feanor (employee) created the Silmarils, and they were pretty nice. The gods (management) took notice of Feanor's creation and said, "Hey Feanor, we've got a project for which the Silmarils would come in really handy, so would you kindly hand them over". Feanor then said, "Fuck you, I made these on my own time and if you want them then make some up for yourselves!" The gods then replied, "Were sorry,
but were afraid that were going to have to let you go for your attitude unless you come off of the Silmarils." Feanor replied, "Fine, then let me go." The gods then said, "We'll also make sure that you never work in this town again." Feanor laughed, " Good I don't want to work here anyways." The gods then left Feanor with a final admoninition, " Oh yeah, well see about that! Who will pay you more than we did for the kind of work you do here? You'll really miss the paycheck if nothing else about this job." Feanor was silent; yes he would miss the paycheck, but the Silmarils were worth it!
so if these crystals stopp light, coudl i cover my car with these and make a clocking device?
The MPAA announced today that it has worked with the US government to ban light research under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. A spokes person said "We are happy that we have nipped this little thing in the bud. Controlling light would allow people to create special viewing devices that could delay light at one end and allow people to watch previously 'recorded' films. We think that such a device could even be incorporated into a pair of glasses." They then went on to speculate that quantum computers could be built that were so fast, they could generate DVD decryption keys in fractions of a second, and that there were many other uses that pirates could come up with.
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