Researchers Manage To Decrease The Speed Of Liight

The general notion of most people is that the speed of light changes only when it passes through a certain medium like glass, water and air. But a group of scientists in Scotland have proved this theory wrong. These scientists from University of Glasgow and Heriot-Watt University have demonstrated that it is possible to reduce the speed of light from its original speed without interruption by any medium whatsoever. Medium independent speed manipulation is a first and can be really beneficial in the fields like astronomy where even a slight change in light speed shows a substantial change in outcome.

The scientists were able to achieve this remarkable feat by changing the shape of single particles of light or photons. The photons were passed through a mask which changed their shape and in turn reduced the speed of the light thus indicating that light is even more intricate than we envisioned. One of the prime researchers of the experiment Jacquiline Romero said that the reason to behind using photons for the purpose of testing was because measurement by an individual photon is the cleanest experiment we can get.


The method to measure the relativity of the light speed seems simple but is exquisite. The photons whose shape was changed and a normal photons started at the same position at the same time towards the common finish line. The difference between the speeds of both the photons was a mere 0.001 percent which may seem quite low, but is quite significant.

Romero also said that the effect is largest when the beams are created by big lenses and are made to travel a short distance. One other lead on the study Professor Miles Padgett said that this discovery can make way for further discoveries about speed of light and they are expecting that such slowing effect is also achievable in other wave forms like sound waves.

Via: Scientists find a way to SLOW DOWN the speed of light | Daily Mail Online