• @Glowstick
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      1024 months ago

      Actually, c is the speed of light in a vacuum, but light travels slower through a medium, like air. So lasers shot through air will actually travel slower than c.

      • @Bassman1805
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        564 months ago

        (For anyone curious, the speed of light in earth air is like 99.97% as fast as in vacuum)

        • @5oap10116
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          344 months ago

          Do you know what the religious affiliation of these space lasers will be?

      • @marcos
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        74 months ago

        A laser strong enough to be used as a weapon will probably not leave a lot of medium on its path.

        But the front-most part will still travel at less than c. It will just speed-up after a while.

        • @[email protected]
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          14 months ago

          I’m curious. What happens to the medium? Does it simply get pushed aside? Or pushed along? Or will it eat up some energy and react to something else?

          • Tlaloc_Temporal
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            64 months ago

            Much like lightning, a powerful enough laser will ionize the air. That ionized air is hot and rises, just like the ionized gasses from combustion.

            A powerful laser will look like a beam of fire.