[TheForge] YAK relativity- WAY OT, or not...

[Gladish Family]

> 	For a good 20 years I've been thinking these particle physics
> 	d00dz have needed to start from a clean sheet of paper.    Your
assumptions build your
> 	world.

I like that last statement! Aint it the truth...

>Einstein's assumption was that C is the universal
> 	limiting velocity.

That was the first thing I noticed during my study of special relativity- if
a light source is moving away from you, then the light emitted that is also
traveling away from you is moving at more than c relative to you. Duh!
The only thing is that we don't seem to be able to sense the difference. I
wonder what would happen if we could accelerate that light source and have a
remote sensor that's stationary relative to us...I bet the light that
reached it would appear to be traveling at c, but what that means, I don't
know.
Whatever else is going on, only c or less is relevant to our daily
business...

>I've never found there to be any firm basis
> 	for this.  The fact that he massaged the Lorentz transforms to
> 	be consistent with this assumption does not prove that he was
> 	correct.  It just means that be built a set of equations consistent
> 	with his assumption.  I'm not saying he's wrong, but that I see
> 	no proof that he is correct.  That empirical measurements confirm
> 	several of the "predictions" implied in the theory doesn't prove
> 	that the assumptions about C as ULV are correct.  They only prove
> 	that bodies operating within the framework of his theory display
> 	certain predicted behaviors.  The one does not necessarily imply
> 	the other.

It's just that bodies seem to develop infinite mass as they approach c, so
it appears to be an absolute limitation. Again, if a body is moving away
from me at c minus 1%, and I'm moving away from it at 1 1/2 percent of c,
then the body is moving faster than light speed. Since all of relativity
depends upon frames of reference, it could be said that everything is moving
faster than light all the time. Or is one frame of reference superior to all
others?  Oh, No, Mr. Hands, my mind won't bend that way!!!!

I bet I'm not the first person to wonder about this.

>
> 	About 25 years ago, several observatories discovered a group of
> 	distant objects with red shifts equivalent to 7C and 21C.  As I
> 	recall, those have not been explained as any equipment malfunction,
> 	calibration error, or error in observation or calculation.
>
> 	Can I accelerate a wrought iron particle beyond C?  I'd like to
> 	think so. :)

Yes, you may. Can I watch?
Andy g.