Light travels at around 300,000 km per second. Why not faster? Why not slower? A new theory inches us closer to an answer.

Why this particular speed and not something else? Or, to put it another way, where does the speed of light come from?

Electromagnetic theory gave a first crucial insight 150 years ago. The Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell showed that when electric and magnetic fields change in time, they interact to produce a travelling electromagnetic wave. Maxwell calculated the speed of the wave from his equations and found it to be exactly the known speed of light. This strongly suggested that light was an electromagnetic wave – as was soon definitively confirmed.aeon

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SPIE Optics & Photonics
08/19/2018 - 08/23/2018    
All Day
The largest multidisciplinary optical sciences meeting in North America The premier event for optical engineering and applications, nanotechnology, quantum science, and organic photonics. Gain access [...]
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SPIE Optics & Photonics
19 Aug 18
San Diego

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New York Photonics is a not-for-profit organization founded to promote and enhance the New York State optics, photonics and imaging industry by fostering the cooperation of business, academia and government.

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