Semiconductors slow light

In a universe subject to the laws of evolution, it may seems open to question whether anything stays the same forever, "forever" being the sort of length of time during which evolution tends to play a trick or two. Having said this, the speed at which light likes to zip around (299,792,458 m/186,281 mi per second through empty space) is a good bet for a permanent feature of whatever the universe will be in the future.
This, of course, does not mean that light cannot travel more slowly. Researchers at Imperial College (London) have just found out how you can actually slow it down. Pass light through a layer of wafer-thin films of semiconductors, and you can make it travel at less than 1/40th of its speed in empty space. They hope to bring it to a complete standstill. This would perhaps satisfy Faust, and his desire for that unique, suspended moment when one could say "halt, you are beautiful". It also means that you can finally travel faster than (slowed down) light. Of course, being able to control the speed of light is excellent news for any future optical ICT.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

On the importance of being pedantic (series: notes to myself)

Mind the app - considerations on the ethical risks of COVID-19 apps

On the art of biting one's own tongue (series: notes to myself)

The Loebner Prize from a judge's perspective

(revised on Medium) On a sachet of brown sugar (series: notes to myself)

Breve commento su "Non è il mio lutto" e la morte di Berlusconi.

Onlife: Sulla morte di Corman McCarthy e "the best writers" della letteratura americana

(revised on Medium) On being immortal (series: notes to myself)