Researchers slow light to a "crawl," photonic computers imminent

While other divisions of NTT are trying to rev up data transmission rates as high as possible, others are trying to slow down the speed of light. This might seem like a Sisyphean task, but those Japanese scientists have done it -- researchers from the telco giant have just published a paper in the January edition of Nature Photonics showing that by using synthetic "photonic crystals," light can be slowed to 5.8 kilometers per second (it normally goes at about 300,000 kilometers per second). We ought to point out, though, that this isn't the first time that light has been slowed down so much, with a team at Harvard achieving the task last year by using ultra-cold Bose-Einstein condensates, and another study at Harvard showed in 2003 that light could be slowed all the way to 38 mph. Still, all of this research is another step forward in "photonic computing," which aims to use trapped light to usurp more traditional electron storage in traditional computer logic. We're sure that once this technology gets transferred to consumer-grade laptops (like, say in 2020), we'll be able to render 12-dimensional shapes in no time at all.

[Image courtesy The Economist]

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[Deluxe @ Dec 23rd 2006 3:58AM]

I'm not sure one of those will fit in my study...

[Patiwat @ Dec 23rd 2006 4:03AM]

It "normally" goes at 300,000 KM/s in a total vacuum. It slows down significantly through mundane substances like glass or air.

[Michael @ Dec 23rd 2006 4:09AM]

Interesting philosophy. I often thought it might be cool to have what are basically fiber optic circuit boards but always passed it off as just a fantasy concept. Never considered anyone would want to slow light down.

[Nubaeus @ Dec 23rd 2006 12:37PM]

Just think about the potential framerate for Oblivion!

[Gil @ Dec 23rd 2006 11:00AM]

How the...???

Go directly to Physics 101
Do not pass Go
Do not collect 200$

[NateDogg @ Dec 23rd 2006 11:16AM]

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IF the speed of light is variable, and science and scientists in the past 5 years have shown that to be possible, then their calculations regarding the "age of the earth" are bullshit.
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1. "The Speed of Light" is not variable. "The Speed of Light" is the speed that light travels in a vacuum. Light travels at different speeds through different substances. Ever heard of refraction? How, exactly, would that be possible if light traveled at the same speed through every substance?

2. What does any of that have to do with the age of the Earth?

3. What's it like to be a fundamentalist nutjob?

[Greg @ Dec 23rd 2006 12:35PM]

Hey NateDog, I agree with your science, the "constant" speed of light is in a vacuum. Your second and third questions are a bit illogical though. If you question what that has "to do with the age of the earth", then why did you have to ask question number 3? Seems to me from question number 3 that you seem to think you know what he means. Just an observation.

[badabing @ Dec 23rd 2006 2:26PM]

@Patiwat

Light moves at the same speed in air as it does in a vacuum(Just under 300'000'000 km/s). However is does slow down in fibre optic cables(just under 200'000'000 km/s)

[Luminaire @ Dec 23rd 2006 5:43PM]

The statement light moves at the same speed in air as it does in a vacuum is untrue. A vacuum, by definition, is the absense of matter (including air) - light travelling through a vacuum is travelling as fast as physically possible. By forcing light to travel through anything (such as air), you increase its refractive index and lower the speed of light. The speed of light within air is not much different than the speed of light within a vacuum (the index of refraction does not change by much), but they are by no means equivalent. See the following Wikipedia article for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_indices_of_refraction.

[badabing @ Dec 23rd 2006 2:29PM]

Sorry that is m/s not km/s

[Jeff @ Dec 23rd 2006 3:17PM]

So you're saying I'll soon be able to download porn at the speed of very slow light? Sweet.

[Owen @ Dec 23rd 2006 5:35PM]

everyone knows the speed of light is variable, you learn it in high school physics. so no, their predictions on the age of the earth are not 'bullshit'

[nickmanderfield @ Dec 25th 2006 1:54AM]

are you honestly using wikipedia to back up your argument?!

[KH @ Dec 23rd 2006 9:48PM]

You can also slow it down using ion "waterfalls". Scientific American, 2001 or earlier, can't remember at the moment.

[Bak3donh1gh @ Dec 24th 2006 5:25AM]

Woo 12 demensions finally back to my home universe. Without leaving the comfort of this 3d sofa!

[Van @ Apr 4th 2007 1:35AM]

Australian physicist Barry Setterfield and mathematician Trevor Norman examined all of the available experimental measurements to date and have announced a discovery: the speed of light appears to have been slowing down over the years! [Roemer, 1657 (Io eclipse): +/- 307,600 5400 km/sec; Harvard, 1875 (same method): +/- 299,921 13 km/sec; NBS, 1983 (laser method): +/- 299,792.4586 0.0003 km/sec.] They all are approximately 186,000 miles/second; or about one foot/nanosecond.)
The decay of c affects the speed of nucleons and the alpha escape particle frequency.
The "facts" taught in science books are "corrected" every few years. Stay up to date!