{"id":393,"date":"2007-11-07T11:06:48","date_gmt":"2007-11-07T17:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ezing.me\/transfer\/?p=393"},"modified":"2014-09-23T09:25:25","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T14:25:25","slug":"a-sonic-zoom-um-physicist-verifies-that-sound-can-travel-faster-than-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/a-sonic-zoom-um-physicist-verifies-that-sound-can-travel-faster-than-light\/","title":{"rendered":"A Sonic Zoom: UM Physicist Verifies that Sound Can Travel Faster Than Light"},"content":{"rendered":"

OXFORD, Miss. – Using sound pulses lasting less than a
\nfraction of a second, a University of Mississippi physicist
\nhas verified that sound waves in water can exceed the speed
\nof light.<\/span>
\n
<\/p>\n

\nJoel Mobley, assistant professor of physics and astronomy
\nand research scientist at UM’s National Center for Physical
\nAcoustics, embarked on studying the acoustics of
\nmicroscopic spheres in 1994 as a graduate student at
\nWashington University in St. Louis. In 2005, his research
\nindicated that sound can travel at superluminal velocities
\nwhen the spheres are randomly mixed in water.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nMobley’s latest research confirms that indication, and his
\ninternally funded work was published in the Sept. 21 issue
\nof the peer-reviewed physics journal Physical Review
\nLetters.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n“This is an interesting observation in the propagation of
\nultrasound in water,” said the journal’s editor, Jack
\nSandeweiss of Yale University. “This certainly yields
\nknowledge about dispersive systems.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n“The idea that acoustic wave groups could move faster than
\nlight is not a new idea, but no one had seen it happen
\nuntil recently,” Mobley said. “This phenomenon is naturally
\nlimited in a way that makes it compatible with Einstein’s
\ntheory of relativity, which says that no information can be
\ntransmitted faster than light. Still, this work provides a
\nnovel look at the effect usually observed in experiments
\nwith light, not sound.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIn earlier work, Mobley argued that water enhanced with
\nmicroscopic-size plastic beads, which are as small as the
\nthickness of a human hair, could support ultrasonic pulses
\nwith speeds faster than light. A report on the simulations
\nwas published in the July 2007 Journal of the Acoustical
\nSociety of America.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n“The research originated as an effort to standardize
\nbiomedical measurements,” Mobley said. “Some aspects of
\nthis current work could be applied to the study of new
\ntypes of pharmaceuticals that employ microscopic particles
\nin the circulatory system.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe laboratory experiment is conducted in a water tank by
\nfiring pulses of ultrasound less than one-millionth of a
\nsecond long between two transducers, one acting as a
\nloudspeaker and the other as a microphone. A sample
\nchamber, which resembles a floatation buoy found in
\nswimming pools, holding approximately 40,000 plastic
\nmicrospheres in less than a teaspoon of water is placed in
\nthe path of the acoustic pulses. The sample chamber is
\nagitated manually to keep the spheres randomly mixed while
\nthe sound waves pass through.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n“Many researchers might expect this effect would require an
\nordered medium, like a crystal that has a regular repeating
\npattern,” Mobley said. “So to get this to happen in a
\nrandom cloud of spheres is surprising.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAssisting Mobley was UM Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors
\nCollege student Evans Heithaus, a 20-year-old senior
\nphysics major from Hattiesburg. Scheduled to graduate in
\nMay 2008, Heithaus said the opportunity to conduct
\nlaboratory research with Mobley is invaluable to him as
\nboth an undergraduate and future medical school student.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n“Dr. Mobley is an incredible professor and a great person,”
\nHeithaus said. “He’s not only a professor, but also a
\ncolleague and great mentor. I’m thankful he has taken me
\nunder his wing.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWith proof that the spheres can conduct sound at such
\nspeeds, Mobley is hopeful his research receives future
\nfunding: “There are some general features common to
\nmicrowave transmission and ultrasound propagation, so that
\ndiscoveries made in our ultrasound lab could potentially be
\napplied to microwave systems, which are used for cell
\nphones, wireless internet, satellite TV just about
\nanything you can think of outside of traditional TV and
\nradio,” Mobley said.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe experiments were carried out at NCPA, where Mobley is a
\npart of the Ultrasonics Research and Engineering Group:
\n“The NCPA was established to conduct cutting-edge research
\nin the field of acoustics, and Dr. Mobley’s work is the
\nlatest in a line of such discoveries,” said Hank Bass, NCPA
\ndirector.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nMobley joined the UM faculty in 2005, after working at both
\nthe U.S. Army Research Laboratory in Maryland and the Oak
\nRidge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFor more information about UM’s National Center for
\nPhysical Acoustics, visit
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.olemiss.edu\/depts\/ncpa\/<\/a>.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OXFORD, Miss. – Using sound pulses lasting less than a fraction of a second, a University of Mississippi physicist has verified that sound waves in water can exceed the speed of light.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[765,767],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Sonic Zoom: UM Physicist Verifies that Sound Can Travel Faster Than Light - Ole Miss News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/a-sonic-zoom-um-physicist-verifies-that-sound-can-travel-faster-than-light\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Sonic Zoom: UM Physicist Verifies that Sound Can Travel Faster Than Light - Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"OXFORD, Miss. – Using sound pulses lasting less than a fraction of a second, a University of Mississippi physicist has verified that sound waves in water can exceed the speed of light.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/a-sonic-zoom-um-physicist-verifies-that-sound-can-travel-faster-than-light\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-09-23T14:25:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@OleMissRebels\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@OleMissRebels\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/\",\"name\":\"Ole Miss News\",\"description\":\"The official source for University of Mississippi news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/a-sonic-zoom-um-physicist-verifies-that-sound-can-travel-faster-than-light\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/a-sonic-zoom-um-physicist-verifies-that-sound-can-travel-faster-than-light\/\",\"name\":\"A Sonic Zoom: UM Physicist Verifies that Sound Can Travel Faster Than Light - Ole Miss News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-09-23T14:25:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/4515cb1b4f8a759552c0827c3df56430\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/a-sonic-zoom-um-physicist-verifies-that-sound-can-travel-faster-than-light\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/4515cb1b4f8a759552c0827c3df56430\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3e8e7562bf6d779d771ad8ce4cecd7ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43025,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393\/revisions\/43025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}