We are moving at an enormous velocity 1000 miles an hour as the earth spins 67000 miles an hour around the sun around 490,000 miles an hour with the galaxy and the galaxy itself at 1.3 million miles an hour so we are really ripping through space time I wonder how it compresses time on earth. The fastest objects seen are planets ejected from the galaxy at 30 million miles a hour and I believe the fastest star is in orbit around Sagittarius A as it swings around the black hole.
rThe speed of light in a vacuum is 186282 miles per second (299792 kilometers per second), and in theory nothing can travel faster .
The speed of light traveling through a vacuum is exactly 299,792,458 meters (983,571,056 feet) per second. That’s about 186,282 miles per second — a universal constant known in equations as “c,” or light speed.
According to physicist Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity, on which much of modern physics is based, nothing in the universe can travel faster than light.
The theory states that as matter approaches the speed of light, the matter’s mass becomes infinite. That means the speed of light functions as a speed limit on the whole universe. The speed of light is so immutable that, according to the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology(opens in new tab), it is used to define international standard measurements like the meter (and by extension, the mile, the foot and the inch). Through some crafty equations, it also helps define the kilogram and the temperature unit Kelvin.
But despite the speed of light’s reputation as a universal constant, scientists and science fiction writers alike spend time contemplating faster-than-light travel. So far no one’s been able to demonstrate a real warp drive, but that hasn’t slowed our collective hurtle toward new stories, new inventions and new realms of physics.
The next interesting question is if in theory the speed of light is not the fastest terminal speed, but only the fastest speed allowed by quantum mechanics.
I submit that this applies only to physical objects and not necessarily to non-physical phenomena of spacetime such as entanglement that seems to be independent of a temporal dimension altogether.
Its just the cosmic speed limit. Although expanding space does exceed the speed of light measured over long distances so obviously this speed limit does not apply to the universe itself. Actually the speed of light is by special relativity and the Universe is general relativity which does not have the speed limit. Information could also travel faster then the speed of light as we see in entanglement. Lots of stuff we know nothing about.
I said the fastest star is orbiting the black hole is at the centre of the galaxy here’s a cool video of a simulation of the orbits - some of these stars are moving at incredible speeds. If your interested and have 2 minutes have a look.
I wasn’t here for a long time, and doing some history I saw this thread, and I didn’t find my favourite answer(s).
In my opinion, the most general description is, that it is the conversion factor between space and time, Think about the spacetime distance (s) between two events. This is all observers agree upon:
s² = x² + y² + z² - (ct)²
(One can also find the opposite formulation: s² = (ct)² - x² - y² - z². It depends on the situation which is he most useful, but the physics behind it is the same).
Physicists often use ‘natural units’, because so there are not so many constants scattered in their formulae. So above becomes:
s² = x² + y² + z² - t²
Which means c = 1.
Another description is, that c is the speed of causality. As it turns out in special relativity, only particles with zero rest mass can move at this speed. Light happens to have no rest mass, and therefore is travelling at this speed. But gravitation (gravitons, if they exist) is also massless, and therefore also travel at c.
So c is more fundamental than just the speed of some physical phenomena. One could wonder why in E = mc² the speed of light plays such an important role. The simple answer is: it doesn’t. As above, in this formula c² is the conversion factor between energy and mass. The shorthand physicists use is E = m.
Is that a fractal?
I suspect that quantum happens @ c and therefore reality is unable to renew itself at FTL speeds. At that speed quantum becomes indefinitely suspended in an eternal superposition.
Come to think of it, we experience reality as a smooth continuum, but actually quantum causes us to see reality only 50% of the time. ||||||||||||||||||||… etc.
Nope. It is a hyperbola. In pure algebra a ‘unit circle’ is expressed by x² + y² = 1. The ‘unit hyperbola’ by x² - y² = 1. Where a distance s in Euclidean space is defined by Pythagoras’ s² = x² + y², in (flat) spacetime it is s² = x² - t². Putting in the ‘conversion factor’ between space and time units, it becomes s² = x² - (ct)², or using all 3 space dimensions s² = x² + y² + z²- (ct)². (In 3 dimensional flat space Pythagoras generalises to s² = x² + y² + z²).
I think I have a nice illustration of that equation. Roger Antonsen has a very entertaining lecture and illustrations of the beauty inherent in mathematics
