Scientists Solve Century-Old Optics Mystery 265
evan_arrrr! writes "From the article:
Since the early 20th century physicists have known that light carries momentum, but the way this momentum changes as light passes through different media is much less clear. Two rival theories of the time predicted precisely the opposite effect for light incident on a dielectric: one suggesting it pushes the surface in the direction light is traveling; the other suggesting it drags the surface backwards towards the source of light. After 100 years of conflicting experimental results, a team of experimentalists from China believe they have finally found a resolution."
Bye bye, Tractor Beam... :'( (Score:5, Funny)
Dang it!!! There goes my bet with Hawking about making a tractor beam. But wait... if we could use a photon emitted from NEGATIVE MASS it would have NEGATIVE MOMENTUM!!! Ok, Stephen... it's ON!
In simple terms... (Score:5, Funny)
The answer is, yes, it's very confusing.
Re:First Post AND Slashdotted Already (Score:5, Funny)
Wait.. what the hell am I thinking?
had to be done (Score:4, Funny)
That's what *SHE* said!
Re:Bye bye, Tractor Beam... :'( (Score:2, Funny)
Wait, girl or boy? (Score:3, Funny)
Ok so we are talking about a guy right?
This paper is a beautiful piece of work and may become one of the classic papers on the momentum of light" said Ulf Leonhardt a researcher...
hmm not sure article doesn't indicate one way or another
Still guys right?
21st Century makeover
She and colleagues have now finally overcome these difficulties by replacing the water surface with a nanometre silica filament.
Wait who is a she???
Re:First Post AND Slashdotted Already (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Already demonstrated at MIT (Score:3, Funny)
nhk
ah the joy of field specific acronyms nobody understands.
Re:Google cache... (Score:4, Funny)
Since it's already slahshdotted, here's [74.125.47.132] the cached version.
Page wont load in google cache either. Google cache has been slashdotted.
Re:and the winner is... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:First Post AND Slashdotted Already (Score:4, Funny)
1. Posing as someone else, post false news that own lab has made a breakthrough discovery
2. Take down the faked article before any scrutiny can be applied and it is determined to be a fake
3. ???
4. Profit!
Re:A little background is apropos me thinks... (Score:3, Funny)
Still using a 40-columns monitor, I see.
Re:Already demonstrated at MIT (Score:3, Funny)
..., so that the momentum of the photon in the medium is nhk.
Hmmm ... a bit of googling ...
NHK could be Nihon Hohsoh Kyokai, the Japanese broadcasting company.
NHK could be Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk, the Dutch Reformed Church.
But somehow, I suspect that neither was what was meant. Got a better expansion that makes sense in context?
Re:Wait, girl or boy? (Score:4, Funny)
The confusion was unintentional I think. Perhaps the article was translated from Chinese?
It's nothing like that famous cockpit conversation between captain Clarence Oveur, co-pilot Roger Murdock and nagivator Victor Basta in the movie "Airplane!" :
Roger Murdock: Flight 2-0-9'er, you are cleared for take-off.
Captain Oveur: Roger!
Roger Murdock: Huh?
Tower voice: L.A. departure frequency, 123 point 9'er.
Captain Oveur: Roger!
Roger Murdock: Huh?
Victor Basta: Request vector, over.
Captain Oveur: What?
Tower voice: Flight 2-0-9'er cleared for vector 324.
Roger Murdock: We have clearance, Clarence.
Captain Oveur: Roger, Roger. What's our vector, Victor?
Tower voice: Tower's radio clearance, over!
Captain Oveur: That's Clarence Oveur. Over.
Tower voice: Over.
Captain Oveur: Roger.
Roger Murdock: Huh?
Tower voice: Roger, over!
Roger Murdock: What?
Captain Oveur: Huh?
Victor Basta: Who?
Re:Bye bye, Tractor Beam... :'( (Score:4, Funny)
You're speaking about dark light, aren't you?
Re:First Post AND Slashdotted Already (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Actually... (Score:1, Funny)
Superfluous prepositions?
Re:Slashdot Effect (Score:4, Funny)
Does the slashdot effect push the server over or pull it down?
Re:Actually... (Score:5, Funny)
Also, as a non-physicist, it can be fun to pit theorists and experimentalists against each other in battles to the death and watch what happens.
Wow, you just don't get it. There's no need to actually pit them against each other, I can provide mathematical proof that the experimentalists will win 84.3% of the time.
Re:Actually... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:No physics background here (Score:2, Funny)
Re:No physics background here (Score:5, Funny)
Exactly. This is why a charged battery is heavier than a dead battery (a fact you'll be thankful for if you ever have to push-start a car!)
Also, have you ever noticed how dust tends to accumulate on a window sill? As sunlight pours down through the window over time, a very tiny fraction of the light is converted from energy to mass. It happens too slowly to observe, but eventually it will accumulate into dust particles.
Different surfaces will result in different rates of mass conversion. I painted my house with a specially formulated paint with a very low rate of mass conversion, provided by a friend who has military contacts. It sure wasn't cheap, but worth it for all the time I save on dusting!
Re:Actually... (Score:1, Funny)
Also, as a non-physicist, it can be fun to pit theorists and experimentalists against each other in battles to the death and watch what happens.
Wow, you just don't get it. There's no need to actually pit them against each other, I can provide mathematical proof that the experimentalists will win 84.3% of the time.
Doesn't that mean that there's only a 25.7% chance that you're right?
Re:Don't leave me in suspense! (Score:3, Funny)
What is the answer?
The answer is that slashdotting provides a positive force on the server regardless of the medium.
Re:First Post AND Slashdotted Already (Score:3, Funny)
Think again. Why do you think we tell people who are dying not to go toward the light? It's pulling on them!
~
Re:First Post AND Slashdotted Already (Score:2, Funny)
Anonymous Coward (Score:1, Funny)
So the fucking sun is pushing us away!