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The only possible answer is, we don't know.
So many people embrace theory as fact. Since no one in this group has ever traveled at the speed of light(including me), we only have Einstein's theory which talks of infinite mass and in contrast, recent experiments that suggest particles in an atomic accelerator move faster than the speed of light by bumping them together at near light speeds.
If you move out of Einsteinian theory, into theories by more modern scientists such as Steven Hawkins, other ways of thinking suggest that faster than light travel is possible. If it is possible, then why is it not possible to project a photon from a speed of light body, which would then be moving faster than the object, or faster then other light.
Also, if it is possible to go faster than light, but light can't be emmitted at these speeds, then the photons would be trapped and it would be dark in "front" of you.
As of right now, I hold that we don't have any solid emperical evidence to support either position, only theory to support both, clock experiments not withstanding.
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You will never get your hand to the headlight button because time has stopped for you.
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The (formula for) mass increase has been verified experimentally on elementary particles going more the 99.999% of the speed of light in empty space. I agree that this is not 100%, but to my knowledge there is nothing to suggest that this formula will break down at some point. Experiments that allegedly prove the existence of signals "things" (signals) going faster than light actually describe the effects of entanglement in quantum mechanics. This issue was already raised by Einstein in the 1930's and it was already shown then that entanglement does *not* imply that there is anything moving faster than light to produce the effect.
It is worth pointing out that it is a misconception that time will come to a standstill. It does not! At least not for the person doing the travelling. For example when a person falls into a black hole (a similar situation) that person will seem be frozen in time before reaching the edge (event horizon) of the black hole *to an outside observer*. The person him/herself *will* experience going over the edge and hardly notice it, unless he/she is ripped to pieces before that of course. For any person travelling at high speed and/or accelerations the experienced time will always be as normal. It is the relative observation by somebody else that is affected only, that is why they call it relativity.
Anyway, since you can't drive at the speed of light the question is meaningless. Close to the speed of light you would see the objects in front of you rotated towards you (e.g. you could see the far side of a house or tree that would otherwise be invisible). The Lorentz/Fitzgerald contraction would be measurable but unobservable because you would really see the combined effect of this contraction and an optical illusion because of travelling so fast.
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Alex Fekken wrote: Close to the speed of light you would see the objects in front of you rotated towards you (e.g. you could see the far side of a house or tree that would otherwise be invisible).
How? I understand objects become more two-dimensional as they travel faster, but how on earth would you be able to see the far side of things?
Cheers,
Vikram.
I don't know and you don't either.
Militant Agnostic
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Because the light emitted from your imaginary headlights doesn't know that it already going at the speed of light. In its own little world, it is going 0 klicks until it is emitted - and then it seems to be going C away from its point of origin -- in its own relatavistic frame of reference.
ergo "relativity", not "absolutivity"
This is Einstein's whole point.
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Have a look at this site:
http://www.anu.edu.au/Physics/Searle/Obsolete/Raytracer.html
and its download page:
http://www.anu.edu.au/Physics/Searle/Obsolete/Download.html
From the latter page:
"The camera moves with constant proper acceleration along a highway in a world where c = 1 m/s. Note that objects behind the camera appear to be still in front of it and to rotate as we move past them."
So it is really an illusion caused by the fact that it takes so "long" for the light emitted or reflected by the objects that you see to reach your eyes.
Alex
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The wall that you are heading straight into. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!
Regards,
1tg46
Check out 3D Game Development with Dark Basic Professional [^]programming.
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All heady theories aside, if the speed of light is fixed and that's the speed you're going, light cannot go any faster than you can. Simple logic says you won’t see anything in ahead of you.
For argument’s sake, let’s take out the speed of light conundrum and use the speed of something else.
If I’m driving down a dark road at the speed of Grandpa’s Rascal and I suddenly push the Rascal, Grandpa and all, out of the car, will Grandpa hit the wall first?
OK, so what's the speed of DARK?
Ozma
Time flies when you don't know what you're doing.
-- modified at 21:12 Tuesday 9th May, 2006
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Ozma6 wrote: Grandpa’s Rascal
Cool car
regards,
Paul Watson
Ireland
Feed Henry!
eh, stop bugging me about it, give it a couple of days, see what happens.
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I have to thank Antonio for submitting this question. To date this trivia question has created the most buzz
According to his professor, ”No, you wouldn't see anything because you and your car would be pure energy.”
Jordon
News Editor/Publisher
The Code Project Insider
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I'd like to email his prof and ask what the heck the answer means. I thought the question was baffling but the answer is far worse
regards,
Paul Watson
Ireland
Feed Henry!
eh, stop bugging me about it, give it a couple of days, see what happens.
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If you can't dazzle 'em with your brilliance, baffle 'em with your bullshit.
You may be right
I may be crazy
-- Billy Joel --
Within you lies the power for good - Use it!
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ur prof is right, i guess, my revision guide tells me that objects with mass can actually never reaches the speed of light, therefore u and ur car have to be energy to fulfill this statement
-- modified at 14:39 Wednesday 10th May, 2006
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Remember E=mc^2, i.e. the equivalence of mass and energy?
What the professor probably means is that you would not have any *rest* mass, which in turn means that you would not be able to travel slower than the speed of speed, and therefore it wouldn't be you behind the wheel because you do have rest mass, and therefore would not be able to reach the speed of light.
I hope this closes the gap between (some of) the answers and shows their consistency.
Alex
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The Physics Part of the IB (or rather my revision guide) teaches me that it is impossible for an object with mass to reach the speed of light, since when the object aproaches the speed of light, its mass would have infinite values.
But over looking that u would see nothing because the speed of light is the same for every observer (in any frame of reverence), so the light rays/waves would actually never leave the bulb.
I wrote my exam on that (Literary today).
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Arctic King, Saladin and Tom Thumb are which types of vegetable?
Jordon
News Editor/Publisher
The Code Project Insider
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Arctic King is a type of lettuce, so that's my guess.
Tom Bryan
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Lettuce
Christopher Reed
"The oxen are slow, but the earth is patient."
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Arctic King, Saladin and Tom Thumb are types of Lettuce.
Dr.Diode
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Lettuce?
regards,
Paul Watson
Ireland
Feed Henry!
eh, stop bugging me about it, give it a couple of days, see what happens.
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Lettuce.
Jordon
News Editor/Publisher
The Code Project Insider
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What is the meaning of the phrase Clawtoo Barraddah Nicktow (phonetic spelling)?
Jordon
News Editor/Publisher
The Code Project Insider
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