Speed Of Light Broken With Off Shelf Components

jukal writes "An interesting article at NewScientist.com: " Now physicists at Middle Tennessee State University have broken that speed limit over distances of nearly 120 metres, using off-the-shelf equipment costing just $500.", " it may be possible to use this reflection technique to boost electrical signal speeds in computers and telecommunications grids by more than 50 per cent. Electrons usually travel at about two-thirds of light speed in wires, slowed down as they bump into atoms. Hache says it may be possible to send usable electrical signals to near light speed. ""

Comments

i wholehearteddly believe this

[krog]

anyone selling a bridge?

186,000 miles per second

[sulli]

it's not just a good idea, it's the law!

Re:186,000 miles per second

[netsharc]

Define "one second". :)

The time taken for light to travel 1 / 299792458 metre?

Re:186,000 miles per second

[Dirtside]

it's not just a good idea, it's the law!*

Actual mileage may vary.

Re:186,000 miles per second

[Trepalium]

The question, mister Guybrush, is if you think you can beat a pair.... A pair of blood thirsty pirates.

First Post at Light Speed!

[Anonymous Coward]

Ack! I bet by the time I hit submit, some other guy using electrons travelling faster than light will have beaten me to first post!

Damn you technology!

I did this years ago

[briglass]

Using onion skins, sixty-four removed coke labels and an ampersand.

Re:I did this years ago

[laserjet]

In my day, we didn't have ampersands. We had to print out the letter S, cut it out, paste it upside-down, and draw a line through it to speed up those damn atoms. And even then, it only worked on Tuesdays. You have it lucky, I'll tell you.

Re:I'm going to sue

[kometes]

> That explains why I've been getting sunburned lately.

Not only were you sunburned, but it appear *before* you went out in the sun.

4x FTL?

[bytesmythe]

Electric signals can be transmitted at least four times faster than the speed of light...

This is known because researchers observed the results of the experiment a month before it was actually attempted.

At first, they were confused by their output terminal spewing phrases like "Hello world!", "Is this thing on?", "How can we tell if it's working??", "What's WRONG with this FSCKING THING??", "FSCK IT! I'm going home!!!" late last month. Earlier this week, one researcher was sending keyed kignals into the system, and becoming frustrated at the lack of output, until he and a colleague accidentally picked up a stack of printed logs from 4 weeks ago and discovered the system had worked before it had been turned on.

Neither researcher could be reached for comment, as they both suddenly became multi-quadrillionaires and are living on private islands in the South Pacific.

Related Stories

[RedWolves2]

Did you see the related stories associated with this article?

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8 August 2002

Light may have speeded up
15 August 2001

So which is it light is speeding up or slowing down???

Re:Peer review time?

[IIRCAFAIKIANAL]

Uh Oh - this whole Victor Ninov thing is going to result in his name becoming a verb

"Jeez, you really Ninov'd those results!"

I hate it when that happens

sensible weights and measures

[spongman]

c ~ 1802617528320.3 furlongs/fortnight

Move over Doc Brown!

[TheKubrix]

Does this mean the Dolorean now only has to go 22MPH now?

Go Ludicrous speed!!

[McFly69]

Sandurz: Prepare for light speed. Helmet: No, no, light speed is too slow. Sandurz: Light speed too slow? Helmet: Yes, we'll have to go right to...Ludicrous speed! Sandurz:Ludicrous speed! Sir, we've never gone that fast before. I don't think the ship can take it. Helmet: What's the matter, Colonel Sandurz...CHICKEN?!

Ludicrous speed!

[McFly69]

Sandurz: Prepare for light speed.
Helmet: No, no, light speed is too slow.
Sandurz: Light speed too slow?
Helmet: Yes, we'll have to go right to...Ludicrous speed!
Sandurz:Ludicrous speed! Sir, we've never gone that fast before. I
don't think the ship can take it.
Helmet: What's the matter, Colonel Sandurz...CHICKEN?!

New slashdot tagline

[ucblockhead]

"Slashdot! We don't suck any worse than the traditional media!"

phbbt, I already did this in 5 years!

[gosand]

I have already proven that you can break the speed of light barrier, in 5 years. I was visited today by myself. I guess in 4 years I am going to fall while hanging a picture in the bathroom, and hit my head on the sink. I'll be knocked unconscious and have a vision of something called the flux capacitor. It will take a year to develop, and I will be able to travel faster than the speed of light. Oh wait, or was it travel in time? Crap, I can't remember what I told me.

Since we're making bullshit headlines...

[DasBub]

...how about this:

"MAN USES OFF-THE-SHELF COMPONENTS TO TRAVEL BACK IN TIME"

Story: 34-year-old Miami resident tapes Thursday's Weakest Link for viewing on Saturday morning.

Re:This article is so bad it's not funny.

[james_underscore]

"electrons usually travel at two thirds the speed of light"

Unless its an AC circuit of course, where they normally travel at an average of 0mph. These electricity companies are ripping us off.

Re:Isn't this like the moving beam of light?

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't need headlights. Even if, by some miracle, you manage to see something, you're not going to react in time.

I think that driving a car at the speed of light would be unsafe under just about any conditions where there's a ground to drive upon.

You need to read more Einstein. His example scenarios are much safer, because trains stay on rails.

Obligatory Futurama Reference...

[Cyno01]

from ep. 2ACV10 - A Clone of My Own

Prof. Farnsworths Clone: Thats impossible, you cant go faster than the speed of light. Prof. Farnsworth: Of course not, thats why scientists incresed the speed of light in 2208.

Wow.

[Decimal]

Whew! Imagine how many points that speeding ticket will add to your driver's license!