Light speed isn't as fast as Hollywood portrays it.
by Island Man 5 Replies latest social entertainment
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Island Man
So the sun is 8 minutes and 20 seconds away. So the sun actually sets 8:20 minutes before you see it set; and it rises 8:20 minutes before you see it rise. We can't ever see the present state of the cosmos. We're always looking back in time. -
prologos
yeah, you are always ahead of everyone else. they can't see what you are doing right now. we send messages into the future, but they are received from the past. 8 min 20 sec is also ~ 500 seconds, the earth orbit is 1000 seconds across +- a half. -
Diogenesister
Wow, really brings it home thanks for the post island man enjoyed that! -
neverendingjourney
I never studied physics much in depth in when I was in school, but I've read a lot on the subject over the years. Relativity is fascinating in ways that my mind can't fully comprehend.
For instance, since space and time are intertwined, if you could somehow catch a ride on a photon of light and travel at light speed, you could travel the length of the universe and it would seem instantaneous to you, but to an observer on Earth billions of years would have passed.
Time and distances aren't fixed quantities but can vary based on motion. Weird yet fascinating stuff.
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prologos
you could travel the length of the universe and it would seem instantaneous to you, neverendingjourney, right.
Those digital clocks fixed on the photon you are surfing on would not count, but be stuck at 0. the clocks on the screen must be near a stationary observer on earth not with the traveller.When you go that fast through space, you have stopped travelling through time. time out =0.