1. The Bible says that God stretched out the heavens. What does this mean to you guys? 2. We know how fast light travels on Earth, but there is gravity here, and light is affected by gravity. They actually have no clue how fast light travels in the vacuum of space, so what does that do to your theory?
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They actually have no clue how fast light travels in the vacuum of space
Maxwell's equations for the win.
I can't be bothered to explain all the reasons why you are wrong.
However, if you're willing to take something that stupid on faith, you might as well take what I say on faith, too. At least then you'll be taking something correct on faith. Yeah, I know, that'd be a first.
Gravity can bend light, but I've never heard of it slowing it down or speeding it up. And yes, they do know at what speed light travels in space. 186,000 miles per second. It's not just a good idea... it's the law.
When did we forget how fast light travels in a vacuum? Did I miss something?
I thought it was 299,792,458 meters per second. Didn't Ole Romer figure that out in 1676?
When did we forget it? And do we still have the recipe for ice cubes, 'cause I got a party this weekend and I'm gonna need ice.
The Bible says that God stretched out the heavens. What does this mean to you guys?
It just means He made the heavens (and built the foundations of the earth and placed the spirit in man).
They actually have no clue how fast light travels in the vacuum of space
The speed of light is intimately tied to the physical structure of the universe. Today, the speed of light in a vacuum is so accurately known that they have redefined the length of the meter (and therefore the mile) in terms of the speed of light. So the only thing that can change is the length of a mile, not the speed of light.
Actually, now that the meter is defined in terms of how far a beam of light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 seconds, that kind of fixes the speed of light in meters per second. So yes, we know the exact speed. If anything, we don't know the exact length of a meter, but we know that, too.
So, in summation ... WRONG!
"They actually have no clue how fast light travels in the vacuum of space...."
Project much there, Ken?
EDIT: Okay, folks, there's no WAY this guy's crazy post is worth a mere 2 on the fundometer! He's changing the laws of physics and accusing the scientists of his own ignorance here!
~David D.G.
@Star Cluster
Gravity can bend light, but I've never heard of it slowing it down or speeding it up. And yes, they do know at what speed light travels in space. 186,000 miles per second. It's not just a good idea... it's the law.
Closer to 186,282 miles per second, actually.
"1. The Bible says that God stretched out the heavens. What does this mean to you guys?
It means you believe in fairy tales and probably don't understand reality.
2. We know how fast light travels on Earth, but there is gravity here, and light is affected by gravity. They actually have no clue how fast light travels in the vacuum of space, so what does that do to your theory?"
See the answer to 1.
I thought it was 299,792,458 meters per second.
Meters?!
"The metric system is a tool of the Devil! My car gets 40 rods to the hogshead, and that's the way I likes it!"
-- Grampa Simpson
"There is gravity on earth and that may have affected his thinking.. I wonder if he would think better and get his facts straight in the vacuum of space instead."
There is gravity everywhere else, too, vacuum or not.
They actually have no clue how fast light travels in the vacuum of space
Well, if by 'they' you mean 'ignorant fundies who think science is the tool of the devil', then you're right. Otherwise... WRONG!
Also, gravity has nothing to do with the fact that space is a vacuum. A satellite orbiting at 100 km experiences just under 97% of the acceleration due to gravity that we do on the Earth's surface, but it's going fast enough that this force doesn't pull it down to the surface but directs it on a circular path.
Edit: I also have this urge to smack him over the head with my copy of Misner, Thorne and Wheeler's Gravitation. Though I'd probably do more damage to my arm swinging it.
KennethDCollins, the Bible says that God placed the stars in a "firmament", a solid dome - shaped structure above the (flat) Earth which separates the "higher waters" (biblical source of rainwater) from the "lower waters". This also means that in the biblical scheme (higher waters, firmament, air, earth and "lower waters") there is no "vacuum of space".
This has absolutely jack diddly squat to do with gravity.
As for light - light in the biblical scheme is just something that the G man separates from darkness, it doesn’t have its origin in the sun, stars or even campfires as it was "created", and therefore existed before these light sources as we currently understand them were supposed to exist. This is why the Bible makes a poor physics textbook.
Why don't you explain it to us, professor. You obviously know a lot about relativity, and particle physics. And please, don't skimp on the details. we are especially interested in the calculations you may have done.
/sarcasm
God did no such thing, and we do know what the speed of light is in a vacuum. To put it in a way that hopefully even a fundie would understand, if you could travel from here to the moon at the speed of light your journey would take a bit under one and a half seconds.
Next question.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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