The Speed of Light Mystery Explained
The question:
Our current understanding of the speed of light is that it is fixed at 186,000 miles per second (mps). A classic example, demonstrating that the speed of light is fixed, compares a beam of light with a ball. If a person who is standing on the side of a road throws a ball it will travel at a certain speed called "x." If that same person throws the same ball from a car moving at 30 miles an hour, then the ball will travel at 30 miles an hour plus x. This means that the speed of the car is added to the speed that the person throws the ball to get the total speed.
However, the mystery of the speed of light is seen when the same person with a flashlight, performing the same experiment, sees the speed of light traveling at the same speed, regardless of the speed of the car. The person standing still, and a person in a car traveling at 30 mph who both turn on a flashlight at the same time, will see the light traveling at the same speed. In other words the speed of the car does not add any speed to a beam of light.
Explanation:
Simply stated, light travels at the constant speed of 186,000 mps or "c" because the speed of light is limited by the media through which it travels. It is a property of the media that limits light to c, it is not a property of light that limits it's speed to c.
The speed of light, therefore, is actually faster than c. Being faster than c is the only way that light can display the properties that we observe it to have. Since, the media through which light travels limits the speed of light to c, no car - or other moving object - will ever be able to add any speed to the speed of light.
The true speed of light can be discerned at the instant of the big bang event. This is because there was no media to slow down light. If one determines the speed of expansion of the universe at the instant of the big bang, then we may know the true speed of light. I call the true speed of light "B" (capital B - for Boggi, my last name, and the letter b logically comes before letter c in the alphabet.)
The period immediately after the big bang is called "inflation." During this period scientists hypothesize that space expanded faster than the speed of light. This notion is wrong. It is true that space expanded faster than c, but space did not expand faster than B.
Likewise, scientists also hypothesize that during the period of inflation there must have been a new kind of energy, during inflation, that allowed the universe to expand. This notion is also wrong. There are no new types of energy. Positing a new type of energy is a flag saying that we just don't know. A future blog will discuss things like the false notion of dark energy and what is really happening.
To B or not to B:
What is this media that I speak of? Let me just say that strings process photons at c. Yes, strings are the fabric of the universe. Strings are the media that slows down light, and strings are the quint-essence known as "ether." (Shout out to the ancient Greeks for that one!) Since strings had not yet formed at the instant of the big bang, there was nothing to slow down the light, hence B.
The quest for B:
There have been recent, and not so recent, experiments that demonstrate that some things can actually travel faster than c. Most of those examples are fun and games, or illusions, not actual science. However, some are. I offer the suggestion of greasing the skids as a good way to breach c. By this I mean use something that also interacts with the media that will allow light to travel faster than c. Creating an electromagnetic field should do the trick and allow speed greater than c. The electromagnet might, for lack of a better term, fill up the strings with electrons which might allow light to travel faster than c. I encourage this type of research.
Conclusions:
- The speed of light is actually faster than 186,000 mps, c. It is actually B.
- The actual speed of light can be calculated by calculating the expansion of the universe in the moments just following the big bang. In the first few moments the big bang, there was no media to slow down photons, therefore the speed of light and other particles was not restricted.
- The media that light travels through creates an artificial speed limit on the speed of light. In other words, strings process photons at 186,000 mps.
- Because light travels at the speed B, light will always travel at c because of the media light travels though, regardless of the speed of the car.
- The media, called strings is a physical medium.
Cozy or not:
If you thought that my blog was thought provoking, you may be interested in picking up a copy of the Cozy Caterpillar Imagination Game. A game that I created to stimulate the imaginations of children.
Next month's topic:
Gravity.
