this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2024
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Science Memes

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I can whistle at the speed of sound (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The medium that the laser goes through could slow it down, but it would still be insanely fast.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 3 months ago (2 children)

It would also still be the speed of light. Always is, unless you specify ‘in a vacuum’ every time.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

The real fun starts when things move faster than the speed of light, that's when you get Cherenkov radiation!

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Adding to the fun - The light is still going the same speed within the medium, but it's bumping into more things. Those collisions divert the light, lengthening the distance it travels through something like 1 cm of glass vs 1 cm in a vacuum. It changes the time it takes to travel through glass rather than the speed at which the light is moving.

At least that's what I remember from a YouTube video.