We can even imagine a portrait of a man chasing a just-fired bullet, with his right hand stretched out and a flowing red cape behind him. The superhero could easily move faster than the bullet, capture it, and save the world from catastrophic destruction.
In other words, no matter who the superhero is, when existing in this world, they still have to obey Newton’s laws of space and time. These laws assert that the position and motion of objects in space can be measured when placed in a reference system with a fixed origin.
Until the early 20th century, scientists held onto Newton’s viewpoints regarding the physical world. Then a famous Jewish physicist and mathematician named Albert Einstein appeared and changed everything.
In 1905, Einstein announced his theory of special relativity, which sparked a highly debated idea: there is no privileged reference system. Everything, including time, is relative.
Two important perspectives further reinforced this theory: the first perspective states that all physical forces are equally applicable in a continuously moving reference system.
The second perspective states that the speed of light, approximately 300,000 km/s, is constant and completely independent of the observer’s motion or the source of light. According to Einstein, if a superhero were to chase a bullet at half the speed of light, the bullet would continue moving away from the superhero at a constant velocity.
These concepts may seem simple, but their effects have truly revolutionized our understanding. According to Einstein’s famous equation, E = mc², mass and energy essentially share the same fundamental nature and can be converted into one another.
Based on this reasoning, the energy of an object, obtained from its motion, will increase its own mass. In other words, the faster an object moves, the more its mass increases, and this increase can only be observed when it moves at an extremely high velocity.
More specifically, if an object could travel at a speed of about 10% of the speed of light, its mass would increase by 0.5% compared to its normal state. If it moves at a velocity of 90% of the speed of light, its mass would double.
As we approach the speed of light, the mass of an object would exponentially increase. If we were to reach the speed of light, its mass would become infinite, requiring an infinite force to continue its motion. For this reason, no ordinary object can move at or faster than the speed of light.
That may be a somewhat disappointing answer for those who still harbor ambitions to race alongside light, but read on to discover that there are still many fascinating aspects surrounding this issue.
What happens if we travel near the speed of light?
As mentioned earlier, traveling at or faster than the speed of light is impossible. But what would happen if we approached that speed? One of the most widely discussed effects among physicists is the phenomenon of time dilation.
This effect describes time as a flowing, twisting stream, with some parts moving faster and others moving slower. Time would slow down for objects moving at extremely high speeds. If you were a passenger on a train capable of traveling at 90% the speed of light, your watch would only advance by 10 minutes, while 20 minutes would have passed on the ground.
You would also experience some interesting visual phenomena. One of them is called the aberration of light. Your entire field of view would shrink, resembling a small window right in front of you. This can be explained by the movement of photons, even those behind you, all moving towards the front.
Another intriguing visual effect is the Doppler effect. The light emitted from stars in front of you will converge, making all objects appear to have a bluish hue. Conversely, the light emitted from stars behind you will scatter, causing them to have a reddish color.
As you move faster, the polarization becomes more pronounced, until these beams exceed the visual spectrum’s limits. At that point, everything seems to turn dark or perhaps all objects appear to have completely vanished.
Of course, time, along with the relentless development of human intelligence, will alter all preconceptions, including the belief that “traveling faster than the speed of light is impossible.” But perhaps, even now, the only thing you can do is wrap yourself in a red cape and let your imagination soar.