Is 186,000 Miles Per Second The Speed Limit?

Back in September I posted about the speed of light and how there is nothing faster. Ever since I posted that I have been wondering if that is true. I know, that is really something that most people worry about, but it keeps me busy thinking about. I know scientifically and theoretically that there is nothing faster. That has been proven by the calculations of Albert Einstein with his theory of special relativity. We know that light travels at, roughly, 186,000 miles per second or 299,792,458 meters per second. Since then we have found that the speed of light can be manipulated. Light can slow as it is refracted passing through much denser materials, such as water, glass, and much slower through diamonds. We can also temporarily speed up light. One experiment in 2000 made the group velocity, or speed, of laser beams travel for extremely short distances through caesium or cesium atoms at 300 times the speed of light, WOW! now that is fast.

Now let me let you in on what I have been thinking about. We use many wavelenghts of nonvisible light for communication purposes. Most common is radiowaves and microwaves, no not ovens, but that makes me hungry. There is another form of communication that many use each day. This may get a little deep in thought so bare with me. Prayer! Prayer, what is the mechanism used to transfer our thoughts and words in prayer? Is it some sort of wavelenght of light? Perhaps, but it all depends on how far our prayers need to travel to be heard and then the time it takes for our answers to travel back. We do not know the exact location of our Heavenly Father, but it is probably pretty far. Let's just say we probably know that it is farther than our sun. Our sun is roughly 93 million miles from Earth. Using a wavelenght of light for communication and using the distance of our sun as our prayers destination, that would take our prayer 8.31 minutes to arrive and then an additional 8.31 minutes to return if answered immediately. I know that I have had prayers answered almost instantly. So, probably not a wavelenght of light, since we know that the speed of light is constant, but could caesium surround us while we pray? (I am joking here) That could speed up our prayers, I sure hope not, that could be very dangerous. Caesium is highly reactive and is highly explosive when it comes in contact with water. I don't know about you, but I have often cried while praying, so that could be deadly.

This is what makes me wonder, what is the mechanism used to transfer our thoughts and words in prayer. Whatever this mechanism is, our Heavenly Father has it all worked out and I do believe that it is much faster that the speed of light. It all depends on where are prayers are going and how far that really is. Or could it be that we all live in very close proximity, just in a different dimension perhaps? After all the veil is very thin at times between this world and others, but that is just going WAY TOO into things. That is another thing I think about, but I will just leave it at this point. The point is that I believe that the speed of light is theoretically the fastest, but I also believe that this mechanism that transfers our prayers is much faster that the speed of light, how fast? Who knows, but science can not measure this. THINK ABOUT IT!

"Earthshine" not "Moonshine"

EARTHSHINE


MOONSHINE

If you know me very well, you know that I like to keep my eyes on the skies. On this Monday evening you might want to take a look to the sky toward the southwest. You will be able to view two planets and also my favorite satellite, no not the International Space Station, but the moon. The two visible planets are Venus, the much brighter one, and also Jupiter. Venus is very bright this time of year. You might even try to go out just before sunset and try to view Venus in the sky, it is that bright. During World War II, aircraft spotters sometimes mistook Venus for an enemy airplane. There were even cases in which Venus drew antiaircraft fire.

The moon will also be highly visible, but only a crescent moon, but there is more to the story. What will make this viewing so great is what is called, "earthshine." This vision is sometimes called "the old moon in the young moon's arms." Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was the first to recognize it. Earthshine is when the light from the sun reflects off of the Earth an additionally illuminates the moon. The crescent part of the moon will be much brighter, this is the light from the sun. The rest of the globe of the moon will be illuminated from light reflected off of the earth, this will be in a more blueish-gray color. Viewing the two planets plus the moon in this form will be a great sight to behold. If you have the chance I recommend taking the time to view our amazing Universe.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

"The First Thanksgiving"

painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1863–1930).

Utah 48 BYU 48/2 = 24

Sean Smith



Brother Paul Kruger (Return Missionary)


What a great game, if you are a Utes fan. I must say, I really like Max Hall. I think he is a great quarterback. I do not think it was his fault that BYU lost. It was the Utes defense. I feel that Max has not felt the pressure of a Ute defense this year. They threw things at him that he was not ready for. And do not blame him for running with the ball, it was what he was forced to do. But, in the end the best team did win this game. Great job Utes! perfect season, 12-0 and BCS bound, AGAIN!

"Great Men"

President Thomas S. Monson (Utah Alumni) speaking
at my commencement.


Rivalry week only comes around once a year here in Utah. I really enjoy the rivalry. As some of you may know I am the "Black (or red) Sheep" of my family. My father graduated from BYU, my mother attended BYU, my older brother and two of my older sisters graduated from BYU. I did not. I graduated from the University of Utah. So this makes for fun times when it comes to Utah and BYU.

One of my sisters who is a BYU fan made a comment on one of my posts and I responded to her comment, but I felt with it being rivalry week I would share my response. She commented on which school was holier. I responded with this answer.

"As for who is holier I will not cast stones, but there have been some GREAT! men that have attended the University of Utah. President Thomas S. Monson, President Gordon B. Hinkley, James E. Faust, Robert D. Hales, Henry B. Eyring, Karl B. Schempp, Bruce R. McConkie, Russell M. Nelson, M. Russell Ballard, Joseph B. Wirthlin (Wirthlin played football as a running back for the University of Utah), David O. McKay, George Albert Smith, and many others. This place must be pretty good if such great and smart men have attended there."

Rivalry week is great. We have a lot of fun here in Utah with this. Although, some get pretty ugly with it, but I am glad that at least our families have fun with it. I have heard listening to local sports radio that many families get into it so bad that they will stop talking, WOW! Afterall, it is just a game. And yes BYU fans, Thomas S. Monson did attend BYU also, but he a Ute at heart, because he did come to my graduation.

Almost!

I almost won tickets to Utah vs. BYU, almost. I often listen to a local radio station here in Utah, Kall 700 AM radio. This station had a contest today to win tickets to the "Holy War." The contest was to e-mail a game day checklist for a BYU fan or a Utah fan. The fun in this was that you were to make the game day checklist for the other fan. So, I being a Ute fan was to make a game day checklist for a BYU fan. The contest was to end at 6:00 pm, so I hurry and put a quick list together a little after 5:00 pm. The idea was to be very creative so I did my best with the short notice. The rules were that if they read your entry over the air you would be in the running at the end of the hour. They had a group of about six that were going through the e-mails. Just a few minutes after sending my entry, my entry was read. I wish I could had recorded the audio, because the person reading it was cracking up, but in the end they went with another entry. But, for your enjoyment and because of rivalry week I will post my entry. ENJOY!

BYU game day checklist

Friday 21, November

4:00pm Begin fast for the cougars.

Saturday 22, November

7:30 am Oh My Heck! I woke up late this morning because our Elders Quorum had to set up chairs at church on Friday night because we will be too upset after the loss on Saturday night to set them up.

7:45 am Go to service project for lonely Utah Ute (SINNER!) fan in our ward this morning, laid sod. Hopefully doing service for a Ute fan will help the Cougars win. “Do Good things off the field.”

9:00 am Took a load of old personal items to DI. Service again!, it can only help the Cougars.

10:00 am Go to Wal-Mart. Need to go early today it is game day. Need to pick up jello and some carrots and caffeine-free Dr. Pepper for the game. Have to take the kids. The wife is gone to a shower.

12:00 pm Iron my white shirt for church. I really wish we could wear blue shirts to church. Fetch!

1:00 pm Go home-teaching. 100% this month, November only. Hopefully this will bless the cougars to win today.

2:00 pm Make jello with shredded carrots for game day. Mothers recipe from Relief Society Cook Book.

3:00 pm Pray for the cougars and pray that the next prophet will not have attended the University of Utah like the last two have.

4:00 pm End fast for the cougars.

4:00 pm Watch the the Fetchin Utes beat our Cougars.

9:00 pm Pray for forgiveness for all the fetchin words I said during the game. Promise to do my home teaching every month next year to help the Cougars win next year.

10:00 pm Get Primary lesson ready for church. I hope I get released soon.


Karl Schempp
Utah Ute Fan
Lonely Ute fan in Utah County

"The Holy War"

The Holy War is a college football rivalry game played between the University of Utah Runnin' Utes and the Brigham Young University Cougars. The term Holy War, rather than its common reference to a war between religions, in this context refers to a battle between BYU and the University of Utah, the flagship and secular institution of higher education in the state of Utah.

This is one of the oldest rivalries in college football. The battle between these two teams is always a good one. The game this year should be an even greater one. Both teams are ranked in the top 25 this year. BYU is coming in ranked 14th in the BCS with a record of 10-1. Utah is coming in ranked 7th in the BCS with an impressive 11-0 record. Even if you are not a fan of either team, this will be a great game to watch.

Being a Ute fan I must set the record straight.

The Utes lead the all time series 53-33-4.