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If you ask a physicist… or anyone with a fast internet connection, and knowledge of Wikipedia, you will find out that the speed of sound is precisely 767 Mph.
But is it?
In all fairness I have absolutely no reason not to believe Wikkipedia, a website which is generally perceived as ‘The Free Encyclopedia’ (Because this is what the non-profit charity calls itself). Even considering the content, which is allowed to be added by any Tom, Dick, and/or Harry nerdy enough to know/care about something. The only query they have is if it’s of enough interest to the general public. Not (as you may think would be slightly more important) how much truth is in the information.
If I wrote in and told the world that Ayres Rock IS actually made from polystyrene… who are the ‘volunteer’ Wikkipedia workers to tell me I’m wrong? How would they prove me wrong? They can’t exactly check the internet could they? That’d be like the people who write Spell-Checking programs using Word instead of an actual dictionary.
I DO in fact have reason to believe a physicist’s (A big one) advice on the matter. If someone with letters in front of their name tells me something, I’m going to believe them. Have I got letters in front of my name? No… therefore they are correct, and I am not.
Despite this, a thought recently visited me whilst I was busy showering. One advantage to this time of year, and all the cold weather is that I tend to entertain much more company in the shower. It only takes a certain amount of time to check for lumps (That IS what I’m doing mum) and enjoy the tingly-ness of ‘Original Source: Mint’ Shower Gel. By the time I’m finished I’ve only been under for 5 minutes. It takes at lest 10 longer under the scalding water for me to brave the arctic bathroom floor. And it’s always nice to have guests.
10 full minutes to try to waste… I got to thinking. The speed of sound is…. Around 750 Mph right? (After research, actually 767). This is how fast it travels. In short, if I were 767 Miles away, it would take 1 hour for me to hear a message.
Let’s put this into theoretical practice. I’m in London. I’m that dude in Heroes with an incredibly loud voice. I have a friend with some sound recording equipment in Madrid (roughly 767 miles away from London). I shout something to them (roughly in the direction of Madrid). It would take over an hour for them to hear it. Hopefully it wouldn’t be something important!
767 Mph is surprisingly slow for the speed of sound. It seems so fast when you’re sat around in the living room. I wouldn’t get fed up with the time it was taking for a conversation to develop, and think:
‘Fuck this I’m moving to the seat next to you, Hollyoaks is on in 20 minutes.’
Something like Concorde (When it was around) was WELL faster! Sounds laughable 767 Mph seems like Emile Heskey to Concorde’s Usain Bolt at 1,450 Mph! Almost DOUBLE! I could fly to Spain, look at a clock, AND back to London in the time it would take me to ask Carlos.
Still warming myself, I continued to wonder… In order to talk to Carlos, I wouldn’t need to gain a superpower, or fly a retired aircraft to his house. I would simply need his mobile number.
For over 50 years… the speed of sound has NOT been 767 Mph. It has in fact, been proven to be a pretty nippy 22,000 Miles per Second, or 79,200,000 Mph. 103,259 times the original figure. Those supposed ‘Physicists’ were quite a way off. I bet they feel pretty stupid now!
This is quite a change you might think. Suddenly, in 1957… the Speed of Sound was increased.
‘How come’ I hear you cry.
‘Whoever could be responsible for this revelation? Surely a global, Nobel Prize winning Scientist? An amazingly intellectual Stephen Hawking-like visionary?
No.
The figure was increased (not to the knowledge of anyone bothering to check the dubious information Wikkipedia received... in 1957) after the first solely communications based satellite was launched. The Soviet’s own ‘Sputnik 1’. The Satellite works by travelling in the Earth’s Geostationary Orbit, this is a circular circuit around the Earth (or Orbit). Because the Orbital Eccentricity of the Geostationary Orbit stays at 0, the shape will remain a complete circle. This keeps any satellite such as Sputnik 1, at a constant distance of around 22,000 miles from Earth.
The concept of a man-made satellite being used to relay communications was in fact originally devised by Arthur C. Clarke. It featured in a 1945 paper, written by Clarke, aptly named ‘Can Rocket Stations Give Worldwide Radio Coverage’ published in Wireless World Magazine.
Arthur C. Clarke of course, was NOT a ‘global, Nobel Prize winning Scientist.’ Nor was he ‘An amazing intellectualist’. He was also not Stephen Hawking. He was of course (And still is, after his tragic death earlier this year at 91 from respiratory problems) the author of perhaps the most loved Sci-Fi novel of all time. 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Does this, in fact, mean that we will also soon realise that since 2001, we have been caught in an inter-galactic race with an evil A.I supercomputer to find the meaning of evolution?
I think that much is obvious.
I should write in to Wikkipedia.
The Speed of Sound Vs The Speed of Sound - Brought to you by James Wormald -