Scientists have previously established that light can be slowed down in certain scenarios, and a new study demonstrates a method for achieving it that promises to be one of the most useful approaches yet.
The researchers behind the breakthrough, from Guangxi University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in China, say that their method could benefit computing and optical communication.
Light zipping through the emptiness of space moves at one speed and one speed only — 299,792 kilometers (about 186,000 miles) per second. Yet if you throw a mess of electromagnetic fields into its path, such as those surrounding ordinary matter, that extraordinary velocity starts to slow.
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