# Microwaves shot through a barrier going faster than light **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 10, 2001, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaves-shot-through-a-barrier-going-faster-than-light/80736 "2001-09-10T20:11:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DonJuanDeMarco3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@DonJuanDeMarco3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonJuanDeMarco3)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2001, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaves-shot-through-a-barrier-going-faster-than-light/80736/1 "2001-09-10T20:11:54Z")
Does anybody know about the specifics on this experiment? Who, what, where, when? I was wondering because it seems a little like the guy jumped to conclusions in saying a few microwaves found a quantum gateway in which they could pass around the indivdual atoms, going through the barrier. I mean the barrier could be doing innumeralble things to the microwaves causing it to seem faster than light. On the other hand, these microwaves may have caused the barrier to go through a process similar to light but with more energy. I dunno? I may just be acting way to arrogant to be assuming these things but hey I am no experimental physics superman ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2001, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaves-shot-through-a-barrier-going-faster-than-light/80736/2 "2001-09-10T20:18:17Z")
How about some references? What are you talking about? There have been a few threads recently about the faster-than-light experiments, have you used the search engine to read them yet? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2001, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaves-shot-through-a-barrier-going-faster-than-light/80736/3 "2001-09-10T20:34:30Z")
Is this what you are talking about? [What’s with news reports about things traveling faster than light?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mphasevel.html) by Karen ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2001, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaves-shot-through-a-barrier-going-faster-than-light/80736/4 "2001-09-10T20:43:23Z")
Could it be the same subject as this thread? : [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=7459](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=7459) ---
**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:** [September 10, 2001, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaves-shot-through-a-barrier-going-faster-than-light/80736/5 "2001-09-10T21:50:06Z")
Rule of thumb here: When you see a report of anything in the “popular” (i.e., non-scientific) press referring to any exciting-looking scientific result, ignore it. There will probably be so many details left out that what’s left will be meaningless, and the original story is usually something not nearly as interesting as the article implies. You don’t necessarily need to go straight to the peer-reviewed journals, either: Science-oriented popular press like _Scientific American_ is pretty accessible and gets their stories straight, and there’s some reliable webpages you can check, too (but be careful with those). ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2001, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaves-shot-through-a-barrier-going-faster-than-light/80736/6 "2001-09-10T22:48:21Z")
I saw the experiment on some tv channel (discovery?). Basically 2 microwave transmitters & recievers were set up. One had a block of some solid material and the other had just air. A song was encoded into the microwave signal (I beleive it was an analoge signal if that matters). The one that passed through the solid block was not at a constant volume but did travel at 1.7c - and you could here the song. The one passing through air (near c due to air) transmitted perfectly. That’s all I have. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2001, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaves-shot-through-a-barrier-going-faster-than-light/80736/7 "2001-09-11T03:25:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Revtim \* > \*\*Could it be the same subject as this thread? : > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=7459](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=7459) \*\* I’m almost certain it is. My local PBS station just re-ran that episode of Nova tonight, and I’d be willing bet that’s where **DJDM3** heard about it.