Speed Of Light Broken With Off Shelf Components

Posted by Hemos on Monday September 16, 2002 @08:09AM from the breaking-the-limits dept.

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. ""

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GAH by gclef · 2002-09-16 08:19 · Score: 4, Interesting

Ye gods, I hate these types of stories. The real physics is always more subtle and interesting than the press makes them out to be.

The vast majority of the experiments I've seen like this (I've really only looked at photon tunneling, but this sounds *very* similar from the write-up) are explained by wave-shaping, and the side-effects of that, and are not actually FTL at all. But of course, that's hard to explain to people, so the New Scientist, et al, just go for the "Speed of light broken!" headline, which mis-leads everyone.

Grrr.