If you were floating around in space, and fired a gun

xgalaxy said:
There is a directional lamp attached to and pointing towards the front of a vehicle moving at 60mph. How fast is the light emanating from the lamp going?

The speed of light? Or the speed of light + 60mph, or other?
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The speed of light is constant, not a variable from the plane of reference. It would still be traveling at exactly the speed of light.
 
Philipsz said:
Every observer in what reference system he might be will see the light moving at the speed of light.
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This is exactly what I learned in high school physics. Theory of Relativity. Since then I have heard rumors that parts of the Theory of Relativity are being disproven, but I'm no longer a part of academia, so if you have any decent links to reputable info on it, I'm interested in the read.
 
Philipsz said:
Nah, he means "in a medium" as opposed to "in vacuum".
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Light can be slowed down in a medium yes, but for anyone who thinks the speed of light is relative to their reference frame is wrong.

If you don't believe me, look at Michelson-Moreley experiments. They show that no matter what part of earth you are on, light from distant stars is always traveling the same speed. This doesn't really make sense, because if you were on the side of the earth moving towards a star it should be coming at you faster right?


(wrong)

The speed of light is absolute for all observers, regardless of their inertial reference frame. This is one of the most basic premises of relativity, and unless Reno has new groundbreaking equations that blow our current best-system out of the water, he won't prove that wrong.
 
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xi'Vexus said:
This is exactly what I learned in high school physics. Theory of Relativity. Since then I have heard rumors that parts of the Theory of Relativity are being disproven,
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Nope, that's bull.

xi'Vexus said:
but I'm no longer a part of academia, so if you have any decent links to reputable info on it, I'm interested in the read.
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There you go: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060914094623.htm

"General Relativity Survives Gruelling Pulsar Test: Einstein At Least 99.95 Percent Right"
 
Philipsz said:
There you go: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060914094623.htm

"General Relativity Survives Gruelling Pulsar Test: Einstein At Least 99.95 Percent Right"
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sweeet. great link.

Since Einstein's theory concludes that the pulsars are losing energy because of the gravitational waves they give off, they drift closer to each other. I wonder what happens when they finally tag each other? I hope it involves very large explosions.
 
Light doesn't really slow down in a medium. It is simply absorbed and reemited by atoms in the medium, this slows down how fast the light propogates but the light still travels in the space between the atoms at 3x10^8
 
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