News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on What Movies Get Wrong About Time Travel. Parent comment

Re:What Movies Get Wrong About Time Travel by evgen on Friday August 14, 2009 @04:05PM (#763729)
"Near the speed of light" carries with it the implicit disclaimer of "relative to a stationary observer" (that is why the theory has the word "relativity" in its name :)

Light travels at C (through a vacuum) regardless of your frame of reference, so it used as the comparator for speed/velocity among different frames of reference.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:What Movies Get Wrong About Time Travel by pbhjpbhj on Saturday August 15, 2009 @09:59AM (#764746)
The speed of light in a vacuum being [constantly and universally] constant is an axiom (ie assumption, belief) of special relativity so it applies to inertial frames of reference.

So, strictly it is not "regardless of your frame of reference". Accelerating frames, eg rotating or accelerating (eg under gravity where General relativity applies) require special treatments.

[ Parent | on HN ]