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# I don't really have a clue
but it does make sence that it slows down when passed through an object (might not be true though).

But it's no longer considered a constant as things like Black Holes can effect it. That's why they now thing that things are a tad closer than what they origonaly thought.
(I helped save b3ta! G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Mon 3 Nov 2003, 15:13, archived)
# the speed of light is constant in a vacuum only. It cannot get faster but it
can be slowed for example when traveling through Gallium phosphide it slows significantly
(HIIHIIH, Mon 3 Nov 2003, 15:18, archived)
# You get crazy radiation
emitted when light goes too fast in a medium - Cerenkov Radiation or something like that. Shine a laser into certain materials and you get random light emitted as the stuff goes 'err, you shouldn't be moving that fast in here'
(jacko_here just here has some ducks, Mon 3 Nov 2003, 15:20, archived)
# i just looked it up on wikipedia
they say that scientists have been able to slow down and even stop a beam of light, and that they have found instances that the speed of the wave motion can be faster than c, like when travelling through a cesium atom, but the actual speed of light is still constant.
so i guess its possible for it to slow down, under certain conditions, but nearly impossible for it to effectively increase.
(I helped save b3ta! Or is it?, Mon 3 Nov 2003, 15:20, archived)
# Oh'ok....


Does that mean I might actualy manage to get my lightsaber?
(I helped save b3ta! G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Mon 3 Nov 2003, 15:22, archived)
# yes
for £2.50 and 17000 Proofs of purchase from your favorite Malted Badger® products
(I helped save b3ta! Or is it?, Mon 3 Nov 2003, 15:25, archived)
# you would have to have the light passing through something
but then you would just end up hitting someone with a stick of Gallium phosphide "which would still be cool"
(HIIHIIH, Mon 3 Nov 2003, 15:26, archived)
# Warp one, Engage!
Light slows down when it's not in a vacuum, and you can sometimes gets particles passing through a material that are going faster than the speed of light in that material. They cause a cool shockwave burst of light called Cerenkov Radiation which is like the light version of a "sonic boom".

One wierd thing scientists have spotted is that light can seem to tunnel or jump from one side of a material to the other faster than the speed of light in a vacuum, which is supposed to be impossible.

Thats why they're trying to revise the rules to mean that information cannot be transmitted faster than light, cos thats when you start getting all sorts of fun causality loops and the like.

/physicist
/relurk
(Gareth, Mon 3 Nov 2003, 15:40, archived)
# .
When you say "they're" , you actually mean "you're" don't you? Go on, admit it!
(I helped save b3ta! Nath, Mon 3 Nov 2003, 15:49, archived)