Re:virus: RE: virus E=MC2 rescinded?

From: rhinoceros (rhinoceros@freemail.gr)
Date: Fri Sep 20 2002 - 16:28:26 MDT


[Blunderov]
This seems to be making waves:

http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/auspac/08/07/australia.lightspeed/index.html

<snip>
SYDNEY, Australia -- The crux of Einstein's theory of relativity -- that E = mc 2 -- is under challenge, following evidence that the speed of light might be slowing down.

[rhinoceros]
I am copy-pasting from the Usenet Physics FAQ archive:

http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/SpeedOfLight/speed_of_light.html

<snip>

Is the c, speed of light in vacuum, constant?

At the 1983 Conference Generale des Poids et Mesures the following SI (Systeme International) definition of the metre was adopted:

"The metre is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second.
This defines the speed of light in vacuum to be exactly 299,792,458 m/s."

This provides a very short answer to the question "Is c constant": Yes, c is constant by definition!

<snip>

[rhinoceros]
Maybe what is really changing is the definition of the meter.

Oh, well... I guess it was not so funny...

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This message was posted by rhinoceros to the Virus 2002 board on Church of Virus BBS.
<http://virus.lucifer.com/bbs/index.php?board=51;action=display;threadid=26002>


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