New Studies Suggest the Speed of Light is Variable http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/1010/20130325/speed-of-light-variable.htm
Thus far, textbook descriptions of the speed of light assume that the light is traveling in a vacuum. Space, however, is not a vacuum. According to the Alpha Galileo Foundation, two new studies slotted for publication in the European Physical Journal D demonstrate that the speed of light is actually variable. The authors of the studies include March Urban of the University of Paris-Sud, along with Gerd Leuchs and Luis L. Sanchez-Soto from the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Light in Erlangen, Germany. A major part of the discussion in both studies is the nature of a vacuum, which on a quantum level is not, as most believe, empty. Rather, it is filled with the particle pairs. continued............. http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/1010/20130325/speed-of-light-variable.htm
Variable light velocity and the Constant C
Reason, is the fits of laughter that accompanies first year physics university students upon hearing the quaint, outdated concepts about approaching the speed of light – length shortens in the direction of motion, time slows down, mass becomes infinite…..
Back in the 60’s, a more reasonable, common sense explanation declared the difficulty with our present mathematical approach to the problem of relativity lies not in any error of the mathematics themselves, but in the fact that the methods and terms used in the attempt to explain them, often lead to incorrect thinking and assumptions. (StarSteps) is a must read to break the “flat earth concepts syndrome” physics still maintains in its interpretation of reality)
For example: the best known formula perhaps, which has emerged from the study of relativity, is the expression E =MC2, which simply states that the quantity of energy (in ergs) which is inherent in any mass, is equal to the number of grams of that mass, multiplied by the square of the quantity C. The quantity C is considered to be a constant, in fact the only constant which has survived in a relativistic world.
In almost every text book on physics in the world today the statement is made that the quantity C represents the velocity of light (in centimeters per second), yet every student in the world who has studied the subject, knows that the velocity of light is not a constant. That its velocity, in fact, varies slightly with each different medium through which it is propagated. Any student who has ever passed a beam of sunlight through a prism to produce a spectrum of color, has demonstrated that not only does the velocity of light vary in different media, but that the change in velocity varies somewhat with the frequency of the light when propagated in material media. This of course is the principal upon which all of our spectroscopes are designed, although most textbooks state merely that the light is refracted or `bent' in passing from one medium to another. There are many who will dispute the statement that the change in velocity varies with the frequency, but when sufficiently precise tests are made entirely within a single medium, the results indicate convincingly that this is true.
At this point most students will remark that the quantity C refers to the velocity of light in a perfect vacuum, but where in the universe can we find a perfect vacuum in which to test this assertion? Astronomers and physicists have estimated that even in the remotest depths of intergalactic space there will probably be found, from three to seven nuclear or atomic particles per cubic centimeter. A beam of light traveling at approximately 3x10(10) centimeters per second would still encounter a rather large number of such particles during each second of its journey. While it is true that the proportionate decrease in velocity which would be produced by this minute concentration of matter is so small that it might be negligible for all practical purposes of measurement, nevertheless it demonstrates the fact that we have chosen as our sole remaining constant, a quantity which actually can never be a perfect constant anywhere in the know universe.
Fortunately there is a value to which the quantity C can be assigned which is a constant. Moreover the assignment of the quantity C to this factor makes possible a much better understanding of the natural laws involved in the propagation of energy. The quantity C is actually the kinetic energy equivalent of the mass energy of matter. In other words, if we take a gram (or any other quantity of matter: Newtonian mass) and convert that matter gradually into energy according to the formula E = MC2, and the resultant energy, as it appeared, were constantly applied to the remaining matter in such a way as to accelerate it uniformly in a given direction, when all the matter had been so converted we would find that we had zero Newtonian mass, infinite inertial mass and a resultant velocity equal to the quantity C, or approximately 3x10(10) centimeters per second (with respect to the given reference or starting point). The maximum velocity attained would always be the same regardless of the quantity of matter with which we started.
This is a fact which can easily be verified by anyone who is mathematically inclined, and who is familiar with the laws of acceleration. The energy required to accelerate each gram of mass to the velocity C through energy conversion is exactly equal to total energy inherent in any matter having that mass. This fact forms the true basis of the statement in our present day physics that the velocity C is a maximum or limiting velocity, since it represents the greatest kinetic energy differential which can exist between two given reference points.
The Quantity C: We have seen that the factor known as the quantity C has a greater significance than is usually credited to it. It is not merely the velocity with which light and other forms of energy are propagated in a vacuum. The quantity C is a degree of energy differential. We can define it as the maximum differential which can exist between two reference points in the factor which we call matter. We can also define it as the minimum differential which can exist between a reference point in matter, and one in energy. This is only true, however, when the reference point in matter is at the same energy level as the observer.
The quantity C is a degree of energy differential. We can define it as the maximum differential which can exist between two reference points in the factor which we call matter. We can also define it as the minimum differential which can exist between a reference point in matter, and one in energy. One of the postulates of the theory of relativity is that as a body of matter accelerates and approaches the velocity of light, or a kinetic energy differential equal to the quantity C with respect to a given observer, the body loses dimension in the direction of motion. If the velocity reaches the velocity of light it will appear to have lost all of its dimension in this direction. To this observer it would no longer be matter, since matter, by definition, requires three dimensions. The matter would have become energy insofar as the original observer was concerned since it would now exhibit a kinetic energy differential equal to the total energy inherent in the original matter.
While we have repeatedly referred to the quantity C as an energy differential, we have heretofore considered it only in terms of kinetic energy. Some may believe that it can be reached only when there is a rate of increase or decrease in the degree of spatial separation between the reference points, equal to 3x10(10) centimeters per second, or in simpler terms, a velocity equal to that of light. It is necessary therefore to point out the fact that an energy differential does not necessarily manifest itself as a velocity. It can also exist as a frequency. Our present laws of physics state that the energy level upon which an electron, a photon, or other particle exists is proportionate to its frequency. The mathematical rule is E equals Fh, where E is the energy, F is the frequency and h is a factor called Planck's constant.
We can now see that a frequency differential which by the above formula is equal to 9x10(20) ergs per gram also represents the quantity C. When such a frequency differential exists between the observer and the point which he is observing, we again find that the natural laws at the observed point reach zero value with respect to the observer. If the frequency differential exceeds this value, the action of the laws will become negative. A material object such as a spacecraft upon or near the surface of the earth would cease to exist as matter and would enter the plane of energy insofar as the observer on earth was concerned, but as we have previously pointed out, an observer upon or within the object, whose frequency or energy level had been raised to the same degree as that of the craft, would be unable to detect any change.
Creative innovations, using Corn, etc., as an oil substitute for our energy requirements, umbrellas for earth to stop global warming, and swinging on vines like Tarzan to get into space, spells out a serious deficiency in 21st century scientific understanding of reality.
More on:
Variable Speed of Light
http://www.speed-light.info/speed_of_light_variable.htm
Einstein's theory of General Relativity Suppose that you have a clock and a ruler (which is not rotating with respect to stars) and that you are not accelerating (inertial). Locally (where you are) you will always measure the speed of light at 299792.458 km/sec. However in the presence of gravity if I am at a different location than yours then I could measure the speed of light at your location to be any value smaller than or greater than 299792.458 km/sec. It depends on where I am and where you are (it depends on locations). So in the presence of gravity the speed of light becomes relative (variable depending on the reference frame of the observer). This does not mean that photons accelerate or decelerate. This is just gravity causing clocks to run slower and rulers to shrink.
Recalling the very famous second postulate of Special Relativity declared by Einstein (1905):
“The velocity c of light in vacuum is the same in all inertial frames of reference in all directions and depend neither on the velocity of the source nor on the velocity of the observer”
Einstein's theory of special relativity says that the speed of light in vacuum is always measured the same (at 299,792.458 km/s) however this is only true locally for systems that are inertial, which means not accelerating.
From Newton's second law: if forces exist implies acceleration exists; this means that if you are in a spaceship and fire your rockets then you are not inertial. The other factor besides acceleration is gravity. Albert Einstein himself emphasized in his paper in 1917:
“The results of the special relativity hold only so long as we are able to disregard the influence of gravitational fields on the phenomena”
