This was in Monday's Globe and Mail.
The tongue and cheek nature of the article aside: If this is true, could this now mean
a new definition for the metre is required?
greg
Lights! Inaction!
Monday, January 22, 2001
What's the world coming to if you can't count on light to travel
at the
speed of light?
Two years ago, Lene Vestergaard Hau of Harvard University managed
the incredible feat of slowing light from its usual speed of
299,792
kilometres a second to the speed of a bicycle. We're not sure
how she
did it. But then, having seen a few bicycle couriers in action,
we're not
even sure they travel at less than 299,792 kilometres a second.
This time round, Dr. Hau and another team of scientists stopped
light
cold. According to Friday's article, they used a cloud of sodium
gas and
a laser beam to stop and restart a laser pulse, which sounds
impressive
even if the experiment might be hard to duplicate in the kitchen
with a
flashlight and a handful of flour thrown into the air. ("Stop
making that
mess or I'll put your lights out!")
Coincidentally, the news was on the same page as an article
about the
massive power failure in California. In San Francisco, "downtown
traffic
lights suddenly went out, bringing rush-hour traffic to a halt."
Cars and
trucks were backed up for block upon block upon block.
In other words, in an uncontrolled experiment, the absence of
light was
able to stop a city cold. Top that, Dr. Hau.
