How To Go Faster Than Light Speed (Seriously…)

Thank you to Foreo for supporting PBS. For more information, go to and use code PBSFOREO ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ Nothing can travel faster than light — in a vacuum. But when light slows down, sometimes matter can blaze past that speed limit, creating a stunning glow called Cherenkov radiation. We can see this glow in a nuclear reactor as high-energy particles speed by. It offers us a window into a realm of the universe that is usually invisible to us. Filmed at the J. J. Pickle Research Campus at the University of Texas at Austin References ►► SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a video! ►► We’re on PATREON! Join the community ►► 0:00 A strange blue glow 1:24 How to slow light down 3:19 The right way to think about light 5:41 How to make a photonic boom 7:51 Who discovered this? 8:25 Why this matters 9:45 Extras! ----------- High fives to all our Brain Trust Patrons: Jaap Westera Millennial Glacier Mark Littlehale Mehdi Damou Barbora Bei Burt Humburg dani bowman David Johnston Salih Arslan Baerbel Winkler Robert Young Eric Meer Dustin Karen Haskell Join us on Patreon! Twitter Instagram Merch Facebook This episode of Be Smart is licensed exclusively to YouTube.