But was it faster than light, officer?
Touch and go there, for a while. The most expensive science experiment in the world recently reported that they had clocked subatomic particles (a scientific way of saying “really, really tiny”) moving at faster than the speed of light. Which would have cancelled out everything I learned in high school science class, among other things. But, after some recalculation and finger twisting, the observation was scaled back. Loose cable leading to faulty readings.
No, this wasn’t an episode of The Big Bang Theory. Although it might feature in something next season… picture Howard or Sheldon putting a little English on a connector in the lab. And in a practical frame, it allows the local city council to continue with their move to install photo radar devices. Otherwise, the first smarty with a good lawyer could have got off with the defense that light was actually moving too fast to be measured by the new technology, etc.
I’ll still have to be cautious. What if they drop one of the flash boxes in that 300 metre stretch of road between here and the supermarket, and I’m then convicted of going 32 in a 30. Could happen. I’m not sure my car speedometer is as accurate as their cash cows photo radar units. What if the city orders their units from the same third world nation that constructed our parking meters? The ones that are consistently out of order, but only after swallowing your coins. A world where you get fined for either parking or not. At least we don’t get to pay extra for bus drivers that run red lights.
