Gizmodo: lightspeed

Tunnel with 40,000 LEDs Is the Closest You'll Ever Get to Light Speed

Adam Frucci — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:40:00 EST

I've never traveled through space at light speed, but I imagine that standing in this LED tunnel is pretty close to the dizzying experience. The video is just plain awesome.

The name of the installation is Multiverse, and it was installed by artist Leo Villareal in a 200-foot-long tunnel in the National Gallery of Art in Washingtong DC. The entire thing features 41,000 LEDs that animate and move on their own, using randomness to ensure that no one will see the same configurations twice. Multiverse will be on display throughout 2009. [PSFK]

LightSpeed Binoculars Transmit Secure Video and Audio Via Infrared

Sean Fallon — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:00:00 EST

Designed primarily for military use, these LightSpeed binoculars are capable of transmitting "untappable" voice and video signals to another set of binoculars using infrared.

The LightSpeed system exploits free-space optics—the ability to pass data between two points via an optical beam. The method usually involves lasers, but this system uses eye-safe infrared LEDs, similar to those used in TV remotes, says Leo Volfson, president of Torrey Pines Logic, which created LightSpeed. “The binocular has an attachment that fits over the ocular side,” Volfson says. “It produces a beam that comes out of the right eye of the binocular. On the left side is a receiver. If you look at me and I look at you, we’ll be able to talk or send information.” Range is determined by the strength of the optics. Unlike radio-wave transmissions, data transfer through the LED beam is undetectable.

There is no word on how much these things might cost, but the Volfson believes that his product has potential outside of the defense industry. That's right—bird watcher's worlds are about to get rocked by technology. [Popular Mechanics]

Physicists Devise Warp Drive Plans for Traveling Faster Than Light

Adam Frucci — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:10:00 EDT

Warp drives, those vague constants of science fiction movies, might actually become real, allowing for travel faster than the speed of light. According to two physicists from Baylor, they've come up with a concept for a warp drive that would shrink space, allowing for a craft to jump ahead vast distances without breaking any laws of physics.

A starship could "warp" space so that it shrinks ahead of the vessel and expands behind it. By pushing the departure point many light years backwards while simultaneously bringing distant stars and other destinations closer, the warp drive effectively transports the starship from place to place at faster-than-light speeds.

Of course, to do such a thing we'd need to harness dark energy, the cosmic antigravity force that we know next to nothing about. The plan would be to use dark energy to create a bubble of space that would travel faster than the speed of light, all the while the ship would remain at rest within the bubble. Since space itself doesn't follow the rules of physics, apparently, we'd be set to travel as fast as we pleased. Finally, a way to make the trip from New York to LA more convenient! [New Launches]