#physic # [[Epistemic status]] #shower-thought # Related - [[Philosophy/Art/Human imagination can not exceed the law of physics]] - [[Physic/Quantum/Tachyon]] - [[Physic/Quantum/Quantum physic]] - [[Physic/Gravitation]] # Light The speed of light cannot be overcome because it is a fundamental limit imposed by nature. This is because the speed of light is the maximum speed at which all energy, matter, and information can travel in the universe. This is due to the fact that the speed of light is the highest speed that any wave can travel in a vacuum. Furthermore, the speed of light is constant throughout the universe and is unaffected by the motion of the source or observer. This means that it is impossible to travel faster than the speed of light, no matter what type of energy or matter is used. $\text{Speed of light} = 299,792,458 \text{m/s}$ ![[AD5CFB64-FC0A-497D-A4DC-022A0F0C818E.png]] ![[A7F2BF01-5A41-4107-BBF9-307A9CB6D03F.png]] # Speed of light >In a given frame, then, as the velocity of a particle increases so does its mass. Furthermore, as the velocity approaches the **speed of light**, the mass approaches infinity, and hence it requires unbounded amounts of energy to get the particle to go faster. Given that only finite amounts of energy are available, it would follow that no particle which travels below the **speed of light** can ever be accelerated to, or beyond, that speed. So the **speed of light** does serve as a limit on the velocities of particles which start out traveling at **sublight** speeds. ~ [[Tim Maudlin]] >it is a limit on the velocity of energy transmission, of signal speed, of causal connection and of information transmission ~ [[Tim Maudlin]]