# Faster than the Speed of Light ?! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 13, 2000, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-the-speed-of-light/22279 "2000-06-13T21:53:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CheapBastid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@CheapBastid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheapBastid)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-the-speed-of-light/22279/1 "2000-06-13T21:53:00Z")
[This Article](http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/space/20000531/sc/scientists_try_to_prove_a_higher_speed_of_light_1.html) piqued my interest! Anyone heard of these experiments? Any comments? ---
**Author:** ![CheapBastid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@CheapBastid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheapBastid)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-the-speed-of-light/22279/2 "2000-06-13T21:56:19Z")
[This Article](http://english.hk.dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/technology/afp/article.html?s=hke/headlines/000612/technology/afp/Space_travel_teeters_on_the_edge_of_an_incredible_revolution.html) also got me interested… ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-the-speed-of-light/22279/3 "2000-06-13T22:01:13Z")
Yeah, saw it on a NOVA about time travel. Some guy was able to sent and receive some musical tune via light that travelled f.t.t.s.o.l. (so to speak). His device filtered out the s.o.l. light, and only the “faster” light got through. Sure enough, you could tell it was “Yankee Doodle” or whatever. It was the best part of the show! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-the-speed-of-light/22279/4 "2000-06-13T22:03:42Z")
I won’t even bother reading the articles, as I’m getting a bit tired of them… There are definitely some “things” that can travel faster than C-- Shadows, for instance. Nothing known, however, can transmit energy or information faster than C. Of the two experiments which have lately been making the news, one showed that the intersection of two wavefronts can travel faster than C: Any physicist could have told you that a century ago. The second basically just shows that the front of a light pulse can reach the other side of a material before the middle of the pulse does: Anyone at all could have told you that, a milennium ago. What it comes down to, is that you shouldn’t pay any attention to science reporting in the popular media… There’s a very strong tendancy to either jump on preliminary,uncertain results and present them as absolute fact, or to take legitimate but uninteresting results and slap a sensational headline on them, as in this case. ---
**Author:** ![CheapBastid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@CheapBastid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheapBastid)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-the-speed-of-light/22279/5 "2000-06-13T22:08:49Z")
I’m enlightened by your willful ignorance Chronos! =) ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-the-speed-of-light/22279/6 "2000-06-13T22:09:56Z")
Actually, **CheapBastid** has handicapped himself with an unfortunate thread title. The article are _not_ about the recent alleged FTL experiments, but rather about a proposed new propulsion system that hopes to produce spacecraft with a top speed of 288,000 KPH. Fast as the dickins, that is, but of course not FTL. **Cheapbastid** , let me know if you want me to change the thread title. The folks in this forum who would know about this subject are _seriously_ (and justifiably) tired of FTL posts. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-the-speed-of-light/22279/7 "2000-06-13T22:10:17Z")
Frankly, I’m not sure that the guy who wrote the article is too smart. > [@](#): > > It’s the speed of light – 186,000 miles (299,300 kilometers) per second. And the principle that nothing can go faster would mean most science-fiction tales of interstellar travel are impossible. At that speed, it would take us many generations to reach even the closest galaxies. . Make up your mind. Are you talking about interstellar travel or intergalactic travel? ---
**Author:** ![CheapBastid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@CheapBastid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheapBastid)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-the-speed-of-light/22279/8 "2000-06-13T22:11:49Z")
It is a mix of two articles. I suppose that is a boo-boo. The first is regarding FTL and the 2nd is regarding the Magnetic Bubble/Propulsion proposition. ---
**Author:** ![CheapBastid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@CheapBastid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheapBastid)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-the-speed-of-light/22279/9 "2000-06-13T22:13:39Z")
I did a quick search of the forum and didn’t see a recent FTL thread. I apologize for the misstep. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-the-speed-of-light/22279/10 "2000-06-13T22:15:26Z")
My point was, why worry about new galaxies when there are billions of stars in this one. Humans won’t be thinking about intergalactic travel for a long time coming, even if interstellar travel becomes commonplace. ---
**Author:** ![CheapBastid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@CheapBastid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheapBastid)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-the-speed-of-light/22279/11 "2000-06-13T22:17:06Z")
Woops! [Found it](http://63.97.40.4/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=25948) Please close this thread, and I’ll put forth the magnetic dealie elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faster-than-the-speed-of-light/22279/12 "2000-06-13T22:23:11Z")
Closed at the request of the OP.