And so, supposing that light impinging on a refracting or reflecting ethereal superficies puts it into a vibrating motion, that physical superficies being by the perpetual applause of rays always kept in a vibrating motion, and the ether therein continually expanded and compressed by turns, if a ray of light impinge on it when it is much compressed, I suppose it is then too dense and stiff to let the ray through, and so reflects it; but the rays that impinge on it at other times, when it is either expanded by the interval between two vibrations or not too much compressed and condensed, go through and are refracted. Isaac Newton, article 1675 ‘Hypothesis Explaining the Properties of Light’
And now to explain colours. I suppose that as bodies excite sounds of various tones and consequently vibrations, in the air of various bignesses, so when rays of light by impinging on the stiff refracting superficies excite vibrations in the ether, these rays excite vibrations of various bignesses. ibid.
So, the day after news broke of a possible revolution in physics – particles moving faster than light – a scientist leading the European experiment that made the discovery calmly explained it to a standing-room-only crowd at CERN, the giant particle accelerator straddling the Swiss-French border.
The physicist, Dario Auterio, made no sweeping claims.
He did not try to explain what the results might mean for the laws of physics, let alone the broader world.
After an hour of technical talk, he simply said, ‘Therefore, we present to you today this discrepancy, this anomaly.’
But what an anomaly it may be. From 2009 through 2011, the massive OPERA detector buried in a mountain in Gran Sasso, Italy, recorded subatomic particles called neutrinos generated at CERN arriving a smidgen early, faster than light can move in a vacuum. If confirmed, the finding would throw more than a century of physics into chaos.
‘If it’s correct, it’s phenomenal,’ said Rob Plunkett, a scientist at Fermilab, the Department of Energy physics laboratory in Illinois. ‘We’d be looking at a whole new set of rules for how the universe works.’
Those rules would bend, or possibly break, Albert Einstein’s special theory of relativity, published in 1905. Radical at the time, the theory tied together space and time, matter and energy, and set a hard limit for the speed of light, later measured to be about 186,000 miles per second.
No experiment in 106 years had broken that speed limit. The Washington Post online article 23rd September 2011, ‘Particles Faster than Light: Revolution or Mistake?’
Light is the chaser-away of darkness. Shade is the obstruction. Everything in Nature is shaped by them. Leonardo da Vinci
His discovery of the electric light bulb literally revolutionised the illumination of the world. Early black and white film, cited Night on Film: An A-Z of the Dark, BBC 2011
The electrons bump the atoms making the filament first red hot, and then white hot. Now let’s see how these bulbs are manufactured. This central stem is now complete. And moves on to the next stage. Here the bulbs are introduced. And they are placed over the filament stem. Later on the bulbs are sealed off for testing; they’ll be ready for use. ibid.
When we look out in Space we look back in Time. Light travels at a finite speed, so the light from the Sun takes about eight minutes to get here. We see the Sun not as it is but as it was eight minutes ago. Dr David Spergel, Princeton University
I’m not sure if it’s ever been established that Edison really did invent in a very original way that great flush of newness that comes upon a man. Gordon Hendrix, historian
The result of the single photon interference experiment is the strangest thing I know. It is conclusive evidence that reality does not consist of just a single universe. Because that result couldn’t have come about unless there were another nearby universe interfering with ours. Dr David Deutsch, Oxford University
In 2001 English artist Martin Creed won the prestigious Turner Prize and £20,000 ($39,000) for a piece of work entitled The Lights Going On and Off – which consisted simply of an empty gallery and a pair of flashing lights. His previous works have included crumpled balls of paper and sticky-tac sculptures. Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! 2006
Before his death in 2002, Dr Hugh Hicks, a dentist from Baltimore, Maryland, collected more than 75,000 light bulbs from all around the world. ibid.
If an object is moving away from us, then the light from that object would be shifted to the red part of the spectrum; if an object is coming towards us, the light will be shifted to the blue part of the spectrum. Wendy Freedman, Carnegie Observatories
The Mason is familiar with the doctrine that the supreme being is a centre of light ... Lucifer the light bearer! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darkness! Lucifer the Son of the morning! Is it he who bears the light and with its splendors intolerable blinds feeble, sensual or selfish souls? Doubt it not ... A devil, the fallen Lucifer or light bearer ... So you may repeat it to the brethren ... The Masonic religion should be of all us initiates of the higher degrees maintained in the purity of the Luciferian doctrine. Yes, Lucifer is God. And the true and pure religion is the belief in Lucifer. Albert Pike, Morals and Dogmas @ p321 & 324
Off Scotland ... In 1900 another ship made this journey. She had come to relieve Flannan’s three experienced lighthouse keepers. First mate Joe Moore climbed ashore but soon came running back in terror. The light was trimmed, the living quarters were tidy, only two sets of oilskins and boots were missing; one chair was overturned in the kitchen but the island was deserted. Arthur C Clarke’s Mysterious Universe
Strange giant light-bulbs possibly some form of plasma beam weapons can clearly be seen at the Temple of Hathor. Chris Everard, Secret Space II
The ability to have lights that can burn for thousands of years without going out ... In Egypt for example they have been found, and also in Rome, and in India ... And we know that those lights were put in place thousands of years ago. Jonathan Gray, interview Coast to Coast Hidden Discoveries
If the sun were to disappear right now, if the sun were to suddenly vanish, it would take eight minutes before we would even deal with the shock wave and see the effects of a disappearing sun. Professor Michio Kaku
Deep inside an ancient Egyptian temple a strange wall carving lures many visitors with its mysterious symbolism. Most Egyptologists believe it shows the birth of a god, but others say this hieroglyph depicts an ancient electric light-bulb, complete with filament and electric chord. Ancient Astronauts
The incandescent light-bulb invented in 1878 by a chemist from Sunderland called Joseph Swan. Mark Williams, Industrial Revelations s2e7: Bright Sparks, Discovery 2005
Round the world we are encountering a strange phenomenon. They are known as mystery lights. They appear without warning or explanation sometimes moving at frightening speeds. Ghost Lights Mystery
Dr Friedemann Freund of NASA studies mystery lights like the one seen just before the 1995 devastating earthquake in Kobi, Japan. Specifically it was this photograph that caught his attention. Dr Freund quickly learns that it isn’t the only instance of strange lights cited in conjunction with earthquakes. They’ve also occurred half way round the world in Peru ... And this photograph taken in the middle of the night in Matsushiro, Japan in 1966. ibid.
Thousands of kilometres away in a remote valley – Hessdalen in Norway – scientists also believe the lights could come from some unknown energy source. But these lights travel at amazing speed. And have even touched the ground. Of all the mystery light sightings around the world, some of the most spectacular occur in a remote valley in central Norway. ibid.
But recently declassified documents – Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon in the UK Air Defence Region: Executive Summary: Scientific & Technical Memorandum No. 55/2/00 – may hold the answers ... ‘The phenomena occur on a daily, world-wide basis’. ibid.
On Brown Mountain, North Carolina, something very strange was happening. Fleeting bursts of bright lights dance just above the tree tops. Weird or What? s1e5: Human Popsicle, Skyfy 2010
Brown Mountain isn’t the only place where strange lights have appeared. In central Norway oblong lights have been appearing over the Hessdalen Valley since the 1980s. South-east of Marfa, Texas, unexplained lights have been reported for two-hundred years – hovering balls of light seem to float above the ground sometimes for several hours. So what is going on? The Brown Mountain lights have baffled rational minds for centuries. ibid.
There’s a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons –
That oppresses like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes. Emily Dickinson, There’s a Certain Slant of Light, 1861
Truly the light is sweet. Ecclesiastes 11:7
Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Isaiah 9:1&2